Zodiac
by xXPantheraXx
Summary: On the first full-moon of Leaf-Bare, eight kits that possess powers sent from the stars were born. They have a chance to bring peace into the forest once and for all, but they must harness their powers quickly. Because in Twelve-Moons, four will be dead.
1. Allegiances

**A/N: Yay Zodiac's finally begun! I already wrote a really large portion for the prologue, at least large for me that is! I decided to be really creative for this story, and I think you'll see a lot of that later in the story. Expect updates pretty much daily, I may update my other stories as well, you never know how much free time I might have. **

**Well everyone please review if you can, and I know look at all the names I came up with! Jeez I really need to get a life don't I? Well I bet most of you will notice we have some of the old characters in this story, yes Dovepaw is Dovestar. And since I don't know what Poppyfrost and Berrynose's kits are named, one of them is called Honeyfrost! Anyway enough rambling, please read on!**

**~Leo~  
**

**

* * *

****ALLEGIANCES**

THUNDERCLAN

LEADER

**DOVESTAR-**

_fluffy gray she-cat_

DEPUTY

**HONEYFROST- **

_light golden tabby she-cat with bright_

_blue eyes_

MEDICINE CAT

**JAYFEATHER- **

_gray tabby tom with blue eyes_

**APPRENTICE, STARLINGSONG**

WARRRIORS

(toms and she-cats without kits)

**BRIARSTRIPE-**

_dark brown she-cat_

**BUMBLEBEE**

_very pale gray tom with black stripes_

**IVYPOOL**-

_gray and white tabby she-cat_

**APPRENTICE, GROVEPAW**

**ANTLEG- **

_light ginger tom with a black leg_

**APPRENTICE, ALDERPAW**

**MORNINGWILLOW- **

_shiny tortoiseshell she-cat_

**KESTRELTAIL- **

_dark brown and white tom_

**MOTHSPOTS- **

_spotted golden and black she-cat_

**APPRENTICE, SNOWPAW**

**BURNTPELT- **

_strong flame furred tom_

**FIRLEAF- **

_brown speckled tom_

**APPRENTICE, MOSSYPAW**

**PEPPERFOOT- **

_gray and white speckled she-cat_

**APPRENTICE, WEASELPAW**

**SEDGEHEART- **

_long-furred white she-cat_

**MALLOWFALL- **

_long limbed gray tom_

**LEOPARDFANG- **

_lithe golden she-cat_

**QUILFUR- **

_spiky brown and black tom_

**CRIMSONRISE- **

_ginger and white she-cat_

**REDLION- **

_reddish-brown tom_

APPRENTICES

(more than six moons old, in training to become warriors)

**GROVEPAW- **

_small gray tom with green eyes_

**ALDERPAW- **

_light brown she-cat_

**SNOWPAW- **

_pure white tom with blue eyes_

**MOSSYPAW- **

_Tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes_

**WEASELPAW-**

_black and cream-furred tom_

QUEENS

(she-cats expecting or nursing kits)

**SCORCHCLOUD- **

_ginger dappled she-cat, mother of Burntpelt's kits; Charredkit (dark ginger tom) and Sandkit (sand furred tom)_

**COLDPOPPY- **

_white and tortoiseshell dappled she-cat, mother of Mallowfall's kits; Bluekit (silver-blue she-cat) Timberkit (dark brown_

_spotted tom) and Heatherkit (pale brown she-cat with blue eyes)_

**LEAFBREEZE- **

_light brown tabby she-cat, expecting Kestreltail's kits_

ELDERS

(former warriors and queens, now retired)

**ROSEPETAL- **

_cream-furred she-cat_

**FOXLEAP- **

_reddish tabby tom_

**ICECLOUD- **

_white she-cat_

**LIONBLAZE- **

_golden tabby tom with amber eyes_

* * *

SHADOWCLAN

LEADER

**SCORCHSTAR- **

_dark gray tom_

DEPUTY

**NETTLECLAW- **

_dark brown spotted tom_

MEDICINE CAT

**SCARLETSHINE- **

_rose furred she-cat with beautiful amber eyes_

**APPRENTICE, FOXPAW**

WARRIORS

**REDWILLOW- **

_mottled brown and ginger tom_

**OLIVENOSE- **

_tortoiseshell she-cat_

**APPRENTICE, ECLIPSEPAW**

**SHREWFOOT- **

_gray black she-cat with black feet_

**APPRENTICE, GOLDENPAW**

**APPLELEAF- **

_ginger and white she-cat_

**GREENCLAW- **

_black tom with green eyes_

**MOONWATER-**

_light silver she-cat with blue eyes_

**APPRENTICE, WHISKERPAW**

**GRIZZLYFUR- **

_large brown tom with yellow eyes_

**APPRENTICE, PUMPKINPAW**

**RYEFOOT- **

_cream-furred tom with black paws_

**HUSKPELT- **

_tortoiseshell and white she-cat_

**APPRENTICE, SMOKEPAW**

**LIZARDFANG-**

_long limbed black tom with yellow eyes_

QUEENS

**DUSKPETAL- **

_black and white she-cat mother of Grizzylfur's kits; Hollowkit (brown she-cat with gray paws and tail) and Umberkit_

_(black tom with dark brown eyes)_

**SQUIRRELCLAW- **

_small ginger she-cat_

ELDERS

**TIGERHEART- **

_dark brown tabby tom_

**FLAMETAIL-**

_small ginger tom_

**DAWNPELT- **

_cream-furred she-cat_

* * *

WINDCLAN

LEADER

**THISTLESTAR- **

_long haired white tom_

DEPUTY

**SUNSTRIKE- **

_tortoiseshell she-cat with a large white mark_

_on her forehead_

MEDICINE CAT

**KESTRELFLIGHT- **

_mottled gray tom_

**APPRENTICE, TAWNYWING**

WARRIORS

**SEDGEWHISKER- **

_light brown tabby she-cat_

**RABBITEAR- **

_white tom with one brown ear_

**APPRENTICE, AUBURNPAW**

**DAISYPETAL- **

_pure white she-cat_

**APPRENTICE, PINEPAW**

**STONEFEATHER- **

_dark gray tom with unusually fluffy fur_

**RUSSETHEART- **

_light ginger tom_

**MINTNOSE- **

_small gray tom_

**APPRENTICE, HORIZONPAW**

**CINDERBREEZE- **

_beautiful gray and white she-cat_

**ASPENLEAF- **

_tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes_

**RAVENPELT- **

_pitch black tom_

**APPRENTICE, CLOUDEDPAW**

**YELLOWPOPPY- **

_dark brown she-cat with piercing yellow eyes_

**APPRENTICE, FURZEPAW**

**WASPFUR- **

_small black and white striped tom_

**TIGERDAWN- **

_ginger she-cat with black stripes and amber eyes_

**APPRENTICE, MOORPAW**

**COTTONTAIL- **

_fluffy white she-cat with green eyes_

**GOLDGRASS- **

_light golden she-cat_

**NECTORPELT- **

_golden and brown striped tom with amber eyes_

QUEENS

**ROSEFERN-**

_light brown and cream furred she-cat, mother of Ravenpelt's kits; Ferretkit (striped cream-furred tom) Branchkit (dark_

_brown furred tom) and Spottedkit (spotted brown she-cat)_

**SWEETMALLOW-**

_gray furred she-cat, mother of Waspfur's kits; Sprucekit (light brown she-cat with green eyes) and Lionkit (small_

_golden and brown she-cat)_

ELDERS

**HEATHERTAIL- **

_light brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes_

**BREEZEPELT-**

_black tom with amber eyes_

* * *

RIVERCLAN

LEADER

**MALLOWSTAR- **

_light brown tabby tom_

DEPUTY

**PETALFUR- **

_white she-cat_

**APPRENTICE, IVORYPAW**

MEDICINE CAT

**WHITELEOPARD- **

_white spotted she-cat with a black tail_

_and feet_

WARRIORS

**SNEEZEPELT- **

_gray and white tom_

**ROBINCLAW- **

_tortoiseshell and white tom_

**COPPERPOOL- **

_dark ginger she-cat_

**BEETLEWHISKER- **

_brown tabby tom_

**APPRENTICE, ADDERPAW**

**GRASSFOOT-**

_light gray tabby tom_

**PRICKLEPELT- **

_tortoiseshell she-cat with prickly fur_

**APPRENTICE, TROUTPAW**

**SILVERSMOKE- **

_silver furred she-cat with gray stripes_

**APPRENTICE, LILACPAW**

**NIGHTWATER- **

_black tom with white paws and tail_

**PONDRIPPLE- **

_gray she-cat_

**FOXFROST-**

_ginger tom with bright blue eyes_

**APPRENTICE, PATCHPAW**

**LIGHTHEART- **

_shiny furred golden she-cat_

**DARKSAND-**

_black she-cat with ginger feet_

**FROZENFOOT- **

_gray spotted tom with white feet and tail_

QUEENS

**BERRYHEART- **

_light brown tabby she-cat, mother of Grassfoot's kits; Otterkit (blue-gray she-cat) and Dawnkit (dark gray she-cat)_

**HOLLYHERB- **

_black and silver striped she-cat, mother of Frozenfoot's kits; Rushkit (dark gray and white tom)_

_and Thunderkit (gray and white striped she-cat)_

ELDERS

**MINNOWTAIL- **

_dark gray she-cat_

**PEBBLEFOOT-**

_mottled gray she-cat_


	2. Prologue: Starfire

**A/N: Yay I finished the prologue, though it was pretty easy because I split it in four POV'S. Pretty much each chapter will be designated to one of the four clans, and then be split in two for the two Zodiac's. I know very confusing. Anyway I hope you all enjoy this, I certainly had fun writing it! Please drop a review if you can, should update tommorow! No, I will update tommorow! :)**

**~Leo~**

**

* * *

**

**PROLOGUE**

A cosmo shot across the starlit sky, creating a streak of bright white light to imprint on the inky surface.

The night was warm, yet still held the chill of Leaf-Bare in its midst, not to mention the aftermath. Leaves still covered the ground, barely allowing any grass whatsoever to show through at all.

A cat with eyes as blue as an oasis sat atop a small boulder, staring blindly into the darkness. This cat had a pelt as dark as a crows, and eyes that were clouded with a white veil.

"Jayfeather!" a yowl made the old tom turn his head and perk his ears, something was happening.

"What is it Mallowfall?" he meowed to a long limbed gray tom, with eyes of an amber shade that seemed to shoot through the darkness.

"It's Coldpoppy and Scorchcloud" he breathed quickly, "Their kits are coming!".

Instantly Jayfeather shot his head up in not only panic, but surprise as well.

"It's not possible!" he called out loud enough for cats passing by to here, "Two queens just cant go into labor at the same exact time, you must be wrong young one."

The old gray tom looked away, as Mallowfall approached.

"Then go check yourself Jayfeather" he meowed forcefully, "As Medicine Cat of ThunderClan its your job to help my mate give birth, now help her!".

"Watch your tongue kit" the Medicine Cat snarled with a fury like a tempest, "Or I just might fix it for you."

And with that, he padded into the Medicine Cat's den, A light brown she-cat helping him with words motioned silently that she would help.

"Jayfeather" she meowed as they entered the den together, "You can't just dismiss the fact that two queens are going into labor, I mean I guess it could happen."

"Guessing isn't what Medicine Cats do Starlingsong" he meowed while looking at herbs, "And Mallowfall has bees for brains if he thinks I'm going to believe some stupid story like that".

His apprentice sighed at the comment, and prepared to gather herbs herself if Jayfeather wasn't go to help. But then all at once, Starlingsong noticed that her mentor was staring out into nothing, like he was in some sort of daze.

"Hello?" she meowed cautiously, not knowing what to make of the situation, "Jayfeather?".

"Two kits!" he meowed instantaneously, "Two kits with symbols!".

And that was all the old gray tom said before he dashed out of the den, leaving a bewildered Starlingsong to follow.

"Jayfeather what are you talking about" she called as he entered the nursery, "Have you gone completely mental?". But her mentor was totally ignoring her, his sightless gaze was fixed on something else inside the den.

"They were born without your help" a snap came from Mallowfall who was crouching beside a white and tortoiseshell dappled queen, lapping three kits close to her belly.

Another lay at the opposite side of the den, her pelt the color of a burning flame.

"The kits" Jayfeather meowed out of nowhere, "Two of them have symbols somewhere, check!".

"What?" Scorchcloud gasped, wrapping her ginger tail around two tiny bundles, "What in StarClan's name are you talking about?". But before Jayfeather could say anything else, the ginger queens mate Burntpelt was crouching over the kits.

"There's something on Charredkit's tail" he meowed about his already named son.

Starlingsong approached, glancing down at the tiny tail before her. Indeed a crimson spiral wreathed around the tip, looking almost like flames.

"And little Bluekit has a moon on her paw!" Coldpoppy meowed in shock, "A crescent moon!". All six cats in the room exchanged a glance, and then all moved to Charredkit and Bluekit.

What were they?

* * *

"Here's some borage and some thyme Duskpetal" a sweet voice meowed, entering the hanging lichen of the bracken filled nursery.

"Thank you Scarletshine" a black she-cat spoke politely, beginning to eat the green leaf and the herb.

The ginger Medicine Cat simply bent her head in reply, and exited the den. Duskpetal cast a quick glance down at the two squirming shapes next to her.

One had a pelt as black as Midnight, but also a tint of umber surrounding his ears.

"Umberkit" she meowed with a smile, "We'll let your father name your sister". Duskpetal then moved her gaze to the nursing brown she-cat, whose pelt looked almost identical to that of her mate Grizzlyfur's.

"Can we name her Hollowkit?" a voice meowed from the nursery, as a large dark brown tom entered, smiling at the two bundles before him.

"Of course!" she purred with a smile, "After your mother right? Hollowfoot?".

Grizzlyfur simply nodded, as he pressed his muzzle into his mates black fur. It was silky and smooth like oil, and her eyes were almost as beautiful as the golden hued leaves they resembled.

Duskpetal felt a nudge next to her, as shadows spread across the nursery.

"Umberkit?" she meowed suddenly, "Where's my kit!?".

"What?" Grizzlyfur growled, searching frantically for his son.

The kit had simply vanished into the darkness, he was nowhere to be seen! Duskpetal urgently looked behind and around her, but still nothing could be seen.

And then as the moonlight began to flood back into the den, Umberkit appeared next to her once more, as if he never left his mothers warm belly.

"It's like he disappeared in the darkness" Grizzlyfur mentioned, lapping at his son now that he was found.

But Duskpetal wasn't listening, something on both her kits had caught her gaze, "Grizzlyfur is that just me, or two those markings on the back of Hollowkit's ears look like eyes?".

Immediately the brown tom moved forward, and gasped as he looked at his daughters ears.

"Your right, they do!" he exclaimed, with a little excitement and fear at the same time, "But what does it mean?".

Duskpetal bent her head, "I don't know yet, but I have a feeling between these two, we'll find out soon enough."

* * *

Cats moved around the clearing swiftly, some trying to take quick glances into the nursery. Most were buzzing about how two queens gave birth at the exact moment on the same night, it was quite remarkable!

But some, mostly the elders were gazing up at the stars in the night sky, their eyes full of worry.

"I heard Sweetmallow's one kit has a leaf marking on her paw!" a fluffy white she-cat mentioned to another cat.

"Oh thats impossible Cottontail!" a small black striped tom hissed, "Goldgrass told me that Rosefern's kit had a lightning bolt on his ear! It's just stupid clan gossip if you ask me".

The she-cat simply chuffed and turned to gossip with more cats, as a cat watched solemnly from its perch on a high mound of grass. This cat had fur as white as snow, and it was as long as a lions mane, resting on his muscled shoulders.

"We need to stop this Sunstrike" he mentioned to a tortoiseshell she-cat with a large mark on her forehead, "Where is Kestrelflight?".

The she-cat lifted her head to meet her leaders gaze, "Tawnywing told me he should be back any moment from the Moonpool, perhaps StarClan consulted him about this."

The old tom simply nodded, and shifted his paws nervously. Cats were beginning to get riled up from all the commotion, in fact two cats had to guard the nursery to make sure no one entered.

And then out of the darkness, an elderly mottled gray tom came padding towards the leader and deputy of WindClan, his eyes glinting of the lustrous rays.

"Kestrelflight" Thislestar bowed his head at the Medicine Cat, "Any news from StarClan?".

Padding to join the two cats, the mottled tom nodded.

"I have plenty of news from StarClan, but I think its best that I tell everyone at the same time. This isn't something that should be taken lightly" his eyes held a seriousness that made Thistlestar sigh.

"Alright then" the old tom got to his feet and jumped atop a large hill, the moonlight illuminating his long white fur.

"WindClan!" his voice bellowed across the WindClan camp, which was nothing more than large scoop out of the moor.

"As I'm sure all of you know, Rosefern and Sweetmallow have given birth to their litters at exactly the same moment" he began with a deep intake of air, "But Kestrelflight has spoken with StarClan, and he has something of grave importance, that I think all of you should hear."

Immediately silence fell onto the moor, as round eyes gazed up at the elderly Medicine Cat, who stepped atop the speaking hill.

"Cats of WindClan" he began with a raspy voice, "This has not only happened to our clan, but all four of the clans."

Shocked gasps enveloped the camp, moving from one cat to another as they soon began to gossip once more.

"But it seems that this is far beyond our control, StarClan has done this for the future of our clans. There have been eight cats born on this very night, and each of them holds great power. A power that can finally bring peace to the forest."

Kestrelflight rose his head to the moon and stars above, and whispered something to himself.

"If only all eight of you could help us" his eyes narrowed at eight shining stars in the sky, all illuminated more intensely than any of the others.

* * *

"Let me through" a white spotted she-cat growled to the cats surrounding a small hollow. The water coming from the river lapped quietly at the shore, calming the sleeping bundles inside of the nursery.

"Whiteleopard!" a light brown tabby queen exclaimed with joy, her eyes shining brightly.

The Medicine Cat bent her head, and nodded, "Berryheart, Hollyherb" she added to another black and silver striped queen, "How are they?". She was speaking of the four kits each of them were nursing, two tucked in cozily next to their mothers belly.

"Otterkit and Dawnkit are fine" Berryheart meowed with a smile of pride, "They certainly are hungry though, I might need a nap later."

Whiteleopard nodded as she examined the two suckling she-cats, and then moved onto Hollyherb's litter.

"What are their names?" the spotted cat asked, checking both kits thoroughly.

Hollyherb wrapped her tail around them protectively, "The dark gray and white tom is named Rushkit, and Frozefoot named the she-cat Thunderkit."

"Good, Good" Whiteleopard meowed, "All four of them seem as healthy as possible, you should get some rest."

The queens meowed their thanks, and although they knew something was wrong, bent their heads to sleep. Whiteleopard exited the nursery, ignoring the curious gazes coming from most of RiverClan.

"Mallowstar!" she caught the pelt of her light brown tabby leader, who was entering the cave that was his den.

Whiteleopard padded swiftly to meet him, and the deputy Petalfur.

"StarClan knows about these kits" she meowed while keeping her voice low, "And its not only RiverClan who this happened to, all four of the clans have new kits."

The leaders eyes rounded, as he motioned for the two she-cats to enter his den. It smelled of fish and herbs, the elderly leader was sick with Green-Cough.

"Why have StarClan done this?" Mallowstar asked his Medicine Cat, "Why now, why so suddenly?".

"Because if they didn't we're going to kill each other" Whiteleopard meowed strongly, "Eight of them have been sent from the stars, with not only a symbol on their body to mark them as Zodiac's, but a power as well."

"Zodiac's?" Petalfur echoed as he moved into the moonlight, "What are you talking about?".

The Medicine Cat turned her head to look into the star-filled sky outside the den.

"Zodiac's, thats what StarClan call these eight cats sent to help us. Each of them have powers that either be used for good or evil, and when the time comes four of them will be left standing."

Mallowstar moved forward, "You mean four will be killed?".

Whiteleopard nodded, "By the full-moon next Leaf-Bare, the Four Zodiac's meant to help the clans will be alive. And the four who were cursed from birth shall perish."

And with that, the White spotted Medicine Cat stepped outside of the den. Her frosty gaze moved to the sky, where eight stars shone brighter than any of the others.

But four were flickering and fading from the inky depth already. And these eight cats only had four more seasons to hone their powers, _In this Age of the Zodiac's._

_

* * *

_**Well there you have it, what did ya think? Review and you'll get a....hmmm....how about an Umberkit plushie? ^^**


	3. One: Moonshine

**A/N: Wow 12 reviews! Thanks, XxRandom NemesisXx, Emberheart0, Icethroat21, Dawnfire2222, brackenfurlover, Falconflight, Lightkit, KrystalFan1313, InuyashaxKagome4evertwo, Hollyflightofthunderclan, xxSnowfirexx, and Athenodora Moon for reviewing! Wow I'm tired after that. **

**Well here you get to meet our first two main characters of ThunderClan! Charredkit was fun to create, he's actually a lot like me in real life, feisty and witty. Wait actually Im much more like if Jayfeather and Russetfur had a baby, that feisty. And you also get to meet Bluekit, darling Bluekit. What do I have in store for these little bundles of joy? Like I would tell you! Please review, update tommorow!**

**~Leo~**

**

* * *

CHAPTER I**

Flakes of snow fell from the overcast sky.

A tiny white spot drifted onto Charredkit's nose, making him sneeze outside the nursery. This was the first moon full of snow, the others were just full of frost and little snow showers over night.

Charredkit really enjoyed the snow, especially the previous night when a blizzard hit the forest, it was awesome!

"Come play with us" a meow sounded behind the ginger tom.

He turned to see a small sand-furred kit staring at him with round icy blue eyes.

"I don't want to play, Sandkit. I want to be out there in the snow hunting for my clan!". Why oh why did he only have to be five-moons old?

His littermate sighed, "Fine I guess I'll just go find Timberkit and Heatherkit than. Your almost as boring as Bluekit now!".

Narrowing his eyes, Charredkit turned back to the thorn-tunnel, awaiting the return of his father. Burntpelt was one of the mightiest warriors of ThunderClan ever to walk this earth, when Charredkit became a warrior, he's going to be just like him!

Wrapping his tail around his paws for warmth, Charredkit noticed the crimson spiral wreathing around the edge of his tail tip. It had jagged sharp edges like those of a flame, and circled all the way up to the very tip of his fluffy tail.

"Why did StarClan give me this?" he asked curiously to no one in particular.

The young tom had heard his mother Scorchcloud, and the leader Dovestar talking about him and Bluekit. Apparently they were something called Zodiac's, but what were those?

Charredkit certainly never heard that word before! As more snow began to fall during the course of the day, Charredkit soon became bored of waiting around, and went in search of adventure!

"Hi Grovepaw!" he greeted the gray tom with bright green eyes as he stood guard at the entrance, "Have you seen Jayfeather?".

The apprentice shook his head, "No, but you know how he is, always wondering off for no apparent reason. Lionblaze tried to convince him to join the elders den again this morning you know".

Charredkit perked his ears, "How did it go?".

Grovepaw flicked his tail towards the elders den, "Go in there and take a look at Lionblaze's nest, its full of crushed berries."

The ginger kit winced, the elder Lionblaze should know better than to mess with Jayfeather, he had quite a sour attitude.

Wandering off to look for something else to do, Charredkit noticed the two warriors Crimsonrise and Quilfur sharing tongues at the base of the rocky ledge.

"Yuck!" he spat loud enough for them to hear, "Save that for New-Leaf!".

Everyone knew that New-Leaf was the best time for kits to be born, and the clans certainly did need more kits! ThunderClan didn't really need anymore, although him, Sandkit and Bluekit's littermates were going to be apprentices in less than a moon!

Not to mention that Leafbreeze's kits were sick with Green-Cough. Charredkit's little friend Crowkit had went to join StarClan only two nights ago, now Leafbreeze only had one kit left, and that was Ebonykit.

The little black she-cat had quite an attitude alright, probably from her grandmother Icecloud who was in the elders den currently.

Suddenly the tiny kit caught the sight of a dark gray tail disappearing behind the Medicine Cat's entrance, and instantly followed. Sure enough, the scent of Jayfeather hung in the air, the Medicine Cat had returned.

Pushing through the opening, Charredkit took a moment to look around the den. There were holes on the walls on either side to store herbs inside, and a small pool in the back to get fresh water.

And then his eyes focused on something at the bottom of the cavern, "Blueberries!".

Instantly the fluffy kit darted forward, but soon the berries disappeared and were replaced by a mangy Medicine Cat.

"What are you doing in here Charredkit?" Jayfeather snapped, picking up the berries in his mouth and hiding them where Charredkit couldn't reach them.

Moving his tail forward with his front paw, the ginger kit beckoned forward.

"Why do I have this marking on my tail" he asked outright, "And what's all this talk about Zodiac's, what are they?".

The old gray tom sighed for a moment, then sat down next to the five-moon old tom. Charredkit perked his ears, was Jayfeather finally going to tell him?

"Do you remember how I told you that your mother and Bluekit's mother gave birth on the same night don't you?" he fixed a firm gaze on Charredkit.

"Yup" he nodded, "That's rare isn't it?"

"Yes" Jayfeather answered solemnly, "Very Rare. And that's why at first I didn't believe it was possible, but then StarClan sent me an omen."

Charredkit perked his ears, "An omen?" weren't omens only sent from StarClan when something bad was going to happen.

Jayfeather nodded, "They told me that not only did two ThunderClan queens give birth that night, but so did five other queens."

Charredkit gasped, that wasn't even possible! He had known Leafbreeze and Coldpoppy were pregnant at the same time, and her kits were born half a moon late!

"And one kit from each litter was born with not only a symbol" Charredkit glanced down at his flame tipped tail, "But a power as well."

"A power? You mean like how you can always tell when someone is trying to steal Blueberries?".

Jayfeather smirked a little and moved forward, "Not quite Charredkit, we still don't know what most of the Zodiac's powers are, only one has been discovered."

Instantly Charredkit's mind began racing with thoughts. What if he had the power to fly!? Or he could have the power to be the strongest cat in the whole forest!

But then realization hit Charredkit, "I don't even have a power yet" and what if he never got one? But Charredkit was as determined as ever to find out what this power was.

Did Bluekit even know what her power was yet?

* * *

Frozen ferns rustled in the cold midnight air. Blankets of snow covered the ThunderClan camp, and as the moonlight shone down, it created an array of silver sparkles glittering under the stars.

Bluekit poked her head out of the nurseries entrance, sniffing the cold air that made her shiver to the core. She glanced down at Coldpoppy who was nestled in close with her siblings Timberkit and Heatherkit.

_Just be very quite, _she told herself.

Sneaking one paw out of the nursery and into the piles of snow, Bluekit was extremely careful not to make a sound. The circular moon seemed to call the tiny blue-gray kit ever closer, she couldn't take her eyes of its brilliant gleam!

Bluekit had always felt a close connection to the sky, and most definitely the moon.

Padding up onto a small rock where she could see the thin crescent moon in the sky, Bluekit glanced down to her own crescent moon on her front paw.

It was curved in an outline of almost silver fur, almost directly beneath her light gray pad.

"StarClan" she breathed with a chill, as the stars of her warrior ancestors gleamed in the depths above.

Earlier in the day, when Bluekit had wandered away from her siblings, she heard Charredkit speaking with Jayfeather. She had quite a knack for listening in on particularly important conversations, and she most certainly didn't miss this one!

_Zodiac, _her eyes grew round with the silver light bouncing off her retinas, _I'm a Zodiac! _

Bluekit had also heard that each one of these Zodiac's had a particular power to match their symbol.

Charredkit had seemed not only very confused, but very determined as he exited the Medicine Cats den, and now after overhearing the conversation so was Bluekit.

_Maybe I can go to the moon! _Instantly Bluekit narrowed her eyes and jumped off the rock, her intentions on flying to the moon. But she landed with a light plop into the fluffy snow, tiny flakes getting thrown up into the air.

"So much for that idea" the gray she-cat sighed, brushing off her shiny pelt.

Glancing out onto the still ThunderClan camp, Bluekit noticed that Redlion and Mothspots stood guard. Instantly she ducked behind the rock, she was lucky nobody saw her!

And then realization hit Bluekit, _Maybe I'm invisible!_

But that idea quickly faded from the kits mind as a blue jay in the tree above her spotted her, flying off quickly to avoid any danger.

"I'm never going to find my power" a distraught Bluekit plopped herself down onto the cold snow, resting her tiny head on her blue paws.

She lay there for a short moment, wishing StarClan could tell her themselves what her power was, certainly they knew! Suddenly a faint whisper wreathed around the camp, and instantly Bluekit lifted her head.

_Oh no, _had Mothspots or Redlion found her?

But as she gazed forward, Bluekit saw that both warriors were still standing guard, and they hadn't even moved a mouse-length. The trees above her head seemed to sway as the whispers swirled around Bluekit, they sounded so ancient!

"_Bluekit" _the whispers were calling her name!

"Hello?" she whispered as well, looking around into the darkness, was someone trying to talk to her? But then the kit soon realized that they weren't coming from around her, they were coming from above her!

"StarClan!" she meowed quietly, still wary of the two guards at the front of the camp, was this StarClan trying to talk to her?

_"You must train Bluekit" _a voice tinged with age told her, _"You must harness your power before next Leaf-Bare, your life depends on it." _

Her silver eyes widened as the voice began to fade, and then all at once, the whispers ceased. Bluekit's mind began to race at what she had just heard, her life depended on harnessing her power?

_But how can I? _She asked not only StarClan but herself, _How can I save my life when I don't even know what my power is? _

_

* * *

_

**Who do you like better? Bluekit or Charredkit?  
**


	4. Two: Nightfall

**A/N: Woah you guys like this story! XD, not that I'm complaining. Thanks brackenfurlover, Icethroat21, Emberheart0, XxRandom NemesisxX, xXStarless NightXx, Lightkit, Falconflight, Hollyflightofthunderclan, KrystalFan1313, Skyst, and InuyashaxKagome4evertwo. Wow my hands hurt! Needless to say, here is Chapter II! Notice I'm using roman numerals :)**

**Yay you get to meet two new Zodiac's, Ms. Hollowkit and Mr. Umberkit. .Well you get to know what one of their powers is, I had fun writing it. Sadly you won't find out Hollowkit's for a few more chapters, but needless to say, its a shocker. I'm doing pretty good with updating everyday aren't I? Also I finished the outline for Terra: Blood Moon, wow did I change alot of stuff! Anyway thanks, and please review!**

**~Leo~**

**

* * *

****CHAPTER II**

Hollowkit stared out across the shaded forest, her bright amber eyes watching for any sign of movement. Clouds moved like hordes of sheep above her head, rolling along endlessly.

She was waiting for Grizzlyfur to return from the border patrol, he was going to teach her and Umberkit some fighting techniques.

"Umberkit" she mouthed her brothers name, he was the one with a power, not her. And of course with being not only five-moons old, but a tom as well, Umberkit was going to rub his power in her face constantly.

_"Where am I?" _He would say at night, hiding in the shadows around her. But Hollowkit would never play his game, she'd try to ignore him, but he was a persistent little pest.

"Move!" Hollowkit felt a paw pushing her aside, as the elder Dawnpelt glared.

Her two brothers Tigerheart and Flametail followed, both rolling their eyes.

"Dawnpelt what has come over you?" Flametail rasped, "She's a kit, not to mention your own granddaughter!".

Dawnpelt barely turned, "I don't care if she was leader of the whole forest! Those Zadiac's or whatever they're called are evil, they're sent from the Dark Forest."

Hollowkit narrowed her eyes, _And if I'm evil then what does that make you? Oh yeah a crabby old elder with a stick up your... _

She didn't finish the sentence because a familiar brown pelt was padding into ShadowClan camp.

"Grizzlyfur!" Hollowkit ducked beneath the paws of Dawnpelt, almost knocking the elder over to get to her father, who smiled with a warm friendly gaze.

"Good morning" he gave her a quick lick on the ear, "How's my favorite daughter?".

The tiny brown she-cat pawed at him, "I'm your only daughter! Now favorite kit, that might be me."

Grizzlyfur chuckled and motioned for her to follow, "You and your brother are always so mean to each other. Can't you learn to just get along for once?".

Hollowkit snorted, _I'll do that when Dawnpelt takes that stick out, _though that was about as likely as if Umberkit stopped annoying her.

"Have you seen Duskpetal?" Grizzlyfur asked, laying his two ravens and a toad onto the Fresh-Kill pile.

Hollowkit flicked her tail to the nursery, "She's in the nursery with Squirrelclaw, Whisperkit and Hazekit aren't doing very well."

Both had caught a nasty case of White-Cough, which then turned into Green-Cough in a matter of days. Even though Leaf-Bare was practically over, the aftermath still hit the forest.

"That's a shame" Grizzlyfur meowed with sympathy, "I don't know what I'd do If lost you or your brother."

Hollowkit nudged her fathers large paw, "That wont happen, we're Zodiac's remember! We're the most powerful cats in the forest!". Now Hollowkit didn't exactly know what she was supposed to do, after all she had no power whatsoever!

"That's right" her father smiled, "And someday you'll do great things to finally bring peace to the forest" and with a lick on the head, Grizzlyfur padded away to speak with Nettleclaw the deputy.

Once again Hollowkit padded to the large Pine tree near the camp entrance, finding her favorite spot by the base of the tree, and lying amongst the bracken.

She felt completely safe here, the branches hung low and guarded her from the dangers of the forest. Not to mention she was almost completely undetectable back here, Umberkit couldn't pester her.

Taking in the crisp scents of the final days of Leaf-Bare, Hollowkit felt her eyes getting heavy, as sleep finally came.

* * *

Opening her amber eyes in the darkness, the tiny brown she-cat became perplexed. Hadn't she fallen asleep by the Great Pine?

Why was she back in the nursery?

But then Hollowkit remembered Grizzlyfur coming to get her at dusk, carrying her back into the warmth of the den. And now she was snuggled closely next to her mother Duskpetal, who's rhythmatic breathing calmed Hollowkit.

Feeling sleepy once more, she closed her heavy eye lids and waited for sleep. But then a peculiar sound woke Hollowkit, it sounded like high pitched chuckling.

"Umberkit" she hissed quietly with anger, "You little flea-brain when I catch you!".

His tiny chuckles bounced of the nursery walls, as the shadows encased the queens and kits. As he continued to annoy her, Hollowkit quietly got up from her comfortable nest, and waited.

She could see Umberkit usually when he was hiding, and the key trick to seeing him was watching for his one white paw. For some reason all of Umberkit changed to black in the darkness except his one paw, it was quite peculiar.

"Where are you?" she whispered into the shadows, searching for anything out of place.

When Hollowkit got her tiny claws on her brother, he was going to wish StarClan picked someone else to give that stupid power to!

Out of the corner of her eye Hollowkit spotted a fleck of white, and instantly darted forward.

"Got you!" she squealed, grasping her catch and diving to the floor. But as Hollowkit opened her paws, she growled as she saw what she had caught.

_Just a stupid Dove feather, _she threw it back out of the nursery, and turned to get up.

But out of the darkness came a tiny black kit with eyes as dark as night, pouncing on top her. As her brother pinned her down, Hollowkit could only sigh.

When and if she got a power, she was going to terrorize Umberkit all hours of the night.

* * *

As pine needles scattered the snow ridden ShadowClan camp, warriors returned from hunting. It was the final patrol of the day, and as the crimson sun set below the horizon, Umberkit readied himself.

"Any second now" he could feel the shadows rising as dusk fell onto the forest, Umberkit was about to become a creature of the night!

He often used this power to spy on warriors, he even caught the two apprentices Goldenpaw and Eclipsepaw sneaking out in the middle of the night.

He didn't quite know what they did that night, but one moon later Goldenheart moved into the nursery.

"What are you up to?" a meow came from behind the pitch black kit.

He moved his colorless eyes to see Moonwater standing above him. She often caught him trying to get into the Medicine Cats den, and was quite used to Umberkits power.

"I'm just getting ready to go to sleep" he meowed like an innocent kit, "What are you doing?".

"Keeping my eye on a kit that's up to something" she meowed, giving a glare as she exited the nursery.

The light silver warrior thought she was clever, but there was no way she could catch him in the darkness. In fact only Duskpetal and Hollowkit could find him, and half the time he was gone before they did.

Rays of shadows drenched the pine infested camp, as most of the warriors padded into their dens for sleep. Umberkit peered outside towards the camp entrance, Appleleaf and Huskpelt were on guard duty, both yawning from the previous nights patrol.

"And..." Umberkit took one last glance to the sleeping Duskpetal and Hollowkit, "Now".

He slipped into the shadows near the pine trees and almost instantly, his black pelt faded into the inky-black of the night.

"Now who to eavesdrop on?" Umberkit glanced across the clearing, his eyes gleaming in anticipation.

Olivenose, Ryefoot and Greenclaw were sharing prey at the opposite side of the clearing. Though they were probably just talking about boring warrior stuff, Umberkit wanted to hear something interesting!

Glancing to the opposite side of him, Umberkit noticed the Medicine Cat talking with a cat next to her stone cave den. Padding into the shadows closer to the Medicine Cat, Umberkit gasped as he saw who she was talking to, Scorchstar!

_This is going to be good, _the black kit inched along in the shadows, getting ever so closer to the talking cats.

"I've spoken with StarClan" the rose dappled she-cat told her leader.

Scorchstar looked up with his piercing amber gaze, "And what did they say? Any more news on the Zodiac's?".

_Zodiac's! _Umberkit's attention immediately increased, they were talking about him!

Scarletshine nodded, "I spoke with Blackstar, he said that Umberkit and Hollowkit should be apprenticed any day now."

Umberkit silently thanked the former, now dead, ShadowClan leader. He was going to be an apprentice!

"What else did they say?" Scorchstar meowed quietly, making sure no one was watching, even though Umberkit had been the whole time.

Scarletshine bent her head, "They also said that because there are two Zodiac's, only one will actually become the true Zodiac of ShadowClan."

The gray toms ears perked, "And who is it?".

Scarletshine shook her head, "Honestly I don't think they know, but Blackstar did tell me that one Zodiac's power is to be used for good. And the other is to be used for evil."

Umberkit quietly gasped, and without wanting to hear anymore, he padded back towards the safety of the pine trees. How could any of this be true?

Why would StarClan give him or Hollowkit an evil power? But there was something that bothered the young kit, who was evil? Either he was the evil one and totally didn't know it, or Umberkit's sister was.

Only time could tell, _but Umberkit just prayed to StarClan that it wasn't him._

_

* * *

_**A/N: Which do you like better? Hollowkit or Umberkit? (Personally I like Hollowkit, so fun to write) **


	5. Three: Earthwhisper

**A/N: I am a writing machine! Thanks InuyashaxKagome4evertwo, xxSnowfirexx, icethroat21, KrystalFan1313, Falconflight, runningfirexyz, Leafstar of Seasonclan, Lightkit, XxRandom NemesisxX, Emberheart0, and Hollyflightofthunderclan. I swear to god my hands hurt like you wont believe, way too much writing! **

**Here is Chapter III: Earthwhisper, notice I'm name each chapter after something to do with the elements or nature. :) You get to meet Sprucekit and Ferretkit, soon to be apprentices. You get to know Sprucekit's power in this chapter, It's fun coming up with them all! Well I hope you all like this chapter, and I will once again update tommorrow! Please click that little button and review! **

**~Leo~**

**

* * *

****CHAPTER III**

A warm current uprooted the leaves from the previous Leaf-Fall, carrying them across the bright green moor. Hills surrounded the land scape as far as the eye could see, well at least Ferretkit's eye.

The tiny cream and brown kit peaked out of the whole in the roof of the nursery, his hazel eyes round at the world sprawled out before him.

Robins were flying across the azure sky, their bright red chests shining in the sunlight.

Losing interest with just looking at the outside world, Ferretkit backed up so he could get out of the whole. The nursery was nothing more than a mound of earth sculpted around the queens.

Most of WindClan chose to sleep out in the open under the stars, but with the dangers of the forest, the queens and kits needed to be well protected.

"Spottedkit" he meowed his sisters name, poking the spotted brown she-cat who was snoring loudly.

"Branchkit wake up!" he prodded his dark brown brother, who was sprawled out on his back with his tiny brown paws folded in the air.

"What?" his sister mumbled tiredly, "Ferrekit go back to sleep, its to early" she flicked her brother away with her tail.

The cream and brown tom sighed, "Don't you two know what today is? Thistlestar's holding our apprentices ceremony!".

Instantly both of his siblings darted upwards, their ears perked and eyes round with surprise.

"I almost forgot!" Branchkit squeaked, "Thanks for reminding us Ferretkit, Ravenpelt would have been angry with us if we didn't make the ceremony."

Moving with his siblings to the nursery entrance, Ferretkit gasped as a pelt blocked his entrance.

"Where do you three think your going?" Rosefern, their mother, demanded while her tail lashed.

"It's our apprentice ceremony!" Spottedkit told her mother, as Branchkit tried to push past her.

"Can't we go?" Ferretkit asked, his mother wasn't going to stop them from going was she? He did have to admit that the three of them were a bit annoying sometimes, but that was how all kits were!

Right?

"Not looking like that you can't" Rosefern sighed, lowering herself to lap at Branchkit's pelt.

All three of them were covered in twigs and bracken, but who in StarClan's name cared!? They were going to be apprentices, almost warriors! Once the queen groomed all three of her kits pelts, Ferretkit and his two siblings pushed past her.

The temperature was just perfect for the three kits to be made apprentices. It was warm but not hot, and it held a bit of a chill in the air from Leaf-Bare.

"Look there's Thistlestar!" Branchkit pointed with his front paw to the long-furred leader who was speaking with his deputy Sunstrike.

Ferretkit breathed softly, he wondered who his mentor would be? There were the two senior warriors Stonefeather and Russetheart, but they were getting old.

Ferretkit needed a strong mentor to teach him everything he needed to know, like Waspfur or his own father Ravenpelt. But sadly his father had an apprentice already, Ferretkit spotted Cloudedpaw by the apprentices den.

"Hi Ferretkit" a voice meowed from behind.

The cream striped tom turned to see his den-mate Sprucekit, and her sister Lionkit. At a lost for words, Ferretkit began to feel hot with embarrassment, why was he so awkward?

He had liked Sprucekit ever since they were two-moons old, her pelt was the color of autumn, and her eyes were like bright green blades of grass.

"I'm here too" Lionkit broke the silence, eyeing Ferretkit up and down suspiciously.

The golden she-cat didn't particularly like that Ferretkit fancied her sister. It wasn't like she liked him or anything like that, but ever since the two's sister Pricklekit died last moon, they were quite close.

Ferretkit and Sprucekit did have somewhat of a bond, they were the Zodiac's of WindClan. Although Ferretkit did wish it was one of his siblings and not him, he hated all the attention from the other cats of WindClan.

And that stupid lightning bolt symbol across his ear, what did that mean? But Sprucekit had a completely different attitude towards it all, she loved being a Zodiac, although both had no signs of a power whatsoever.

"May all cats old enough to catch their first rabbit, gather here beneath the Tall-Mound."

All five kits gasped in excitement as the call from their leader Thistlestar echoed across the scoop of WindClan camp.

Ferretkit could only wish one thing as he moved forward to become an apprentice, _Please let me be normal. I just want to be normal like everyone else. _

But deep down Ferretkit knew that he could never be normal, and if that was a blessing from StarClan or a curse from the Dark Forest, he had yet to know.

* * *

The moor of WindClan territory lay in front of Sprucepaw, its vast landscape becoming a bit overwhelming for her. The scents of nectar and wild berries wreathed through the air, making Sprucepaw close her eyes in serenity.

"Come" her mentor Sunstrike meowed as she padded up to her apprentice, "Let's keep going, I'd like to show you the ThunderClan border."

The light brown apprentice nodded and followed the tortoiseshell deputy. What an honor to be the deputies apprentice, but it did help that her father Waspfur was Sunstrike's younger brother.

"Do you see those trees next to the lake" Sunstrike asked, as Sprucepaw looked forward.

She nodded, "Is that ThunderClan?".

"Yes" the deputy began padding to where the trees began to disperse into grassland.

"Right here" she flicked her tail to a large rock, "Is where our border ends, and the ThunderClan border begins. Now I know sometimes in Leaf-Bare you can't quite see where it ends, but as long as you don't go beyond that large Rowan Tree, you should be fine."

Sprucepaw looked forward to a large tree that grew taller than the ones below it. As the wind blew its leaves it seemed to whisper through the air, Sprucepaw sighed, she loved nature.

"Would you rather go down to the lake?" Sunstrike meowed while pausing, "Or would you like to have your first hunting lesson?".

Pondering the possibilities for a short moment, Sprucepaw was leaning more towards going to the lake. Her mother Sweetmallow had told her how beautiful the water was, and ever since she was born Sprucepaw wanted to find out what it truly looked like.

"Let's go to the lake" she finally meowed, as Sunstrike nodded.

"If we come across any prey I'll give you a hunting lesson, although I doubt we'll find any rabbits towards the shore."

Hearing the possibility of killing an animal, Sprucepaw shivered. She always thought that killing was inhumane, they were taking a life for StarClan's sake.

_Couldn't the clans just eat berries?_ Sprucepaw loved eating berries, especially Blue Berries when they were all plump and ripe.

Veering off the task before her, Sprucepaw gasped as she saw the luscious waves reflecting the sunlight, only fox-lengths ahead of her. The waves lapped at the shore softly, as ducks and swans swam across its surface.

"It's beautiful" Sprucepaw was beyond shocked, this was better than she even imagined! On the other side of the water, Sprucepaw spotted the island where the clans gathered once a moon.

"Is that RiverClan?" she asked, vaguely spotting cats on the shore fishing into the lake.

Sunstrike nodded, "I'll show you our border with them another day, although its pretty easy to remember. Just don't go past Horse-Place."

Sprucepaw nodded, _Don't go past Horse-Place. _Padding forward to sniff at the lakes water, Sprucepaw could faintly smell the scent of fish.

"Yuck" she spat, why would RiverClan eat those?! Not only did they smell horrible, but there was no reason to kill them, they could very easily hunt in the forest!

Suddenly Sprucepaw spotted Sunstrike looking forward, her ears pricked straight upwards.

"I smell rabbit" she told Sprucepaw quietly, instantly dropping to the ground.

As her mentor motioned for her to do the same, Sprucepaw felt a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. She didn't want to kill an animal, if she did then she was practically a murderer!

"I think its over by the rocks at the edge of the lake" Sunstrike breathed in the scent, "If we can corner it then it has no chance."

The light brown she-cat simply nodded as they pawed forward slowly, the rocks at the edge of the lake barely three fox-lengths ahead.

Sprucepaw could faintly see the outline of a small fluffy white tail, and the big ears of a rabbit looking for food.

Suddenly whispers engulfed Sprucepaw's head, and images as well.

_"Food, must find food" _the whispers were coming from the rabbit! And then Sprucepaw saw an image of the same mother rabbit returning to a burrow, with countless babies looking for food.

_It's a mother, _Sprucepaw realized, _And if she dies, then so do all of her babies! _

Noticing Sunstrike was in striking distance and about to make the kill, Sprucepaw ran forward and bolted into her mentor, catching her by surprise. Making a loud thud as they hit the ground, instantly the rabbit darted back towards its home, its tiny white tail disappearing behind a bush.

"What in StarClan's name is wrong with you?" Sunstrike growled, brushing grass and twigs off of her tortoiseshell pelt.

Sprucepaw lowered her head, "I could hear what the rabbit was thinking. I'm sorry but I couldn't let you kill it, she had babies Sunstrike!".

But the tortoiseshell deputy with a large white mark on her forehead only stared at her apprentice, making Sprucepaw even more confused.

"You heard what the rabbit was thinking?" she asked, unsure of what to think.

Sprucepaw shuffled her paws, "Yes, and I saw an image of her babies in a burrow" did she do something wrong?

But why and how could Sprucepaw hear what an animal of different species was thinking, what was wrong with her?

"Well Sprucepaw" Sunstrike meowed finally, "I think you've finally found your power, remember you are a Zodiac."

Suddenly something clicked in Sprucepaw's brain, how could she have been so dumb, of course this was her power! But what use could hearing what animals of different species be to her?

_And how could it finally bring peace to the forest? _

_

* * *

_**A/N: Once again who do you like better? Sprucekit or Ferretkit!? **

**(I'm just asking because I want to know If I developed the Characters well enough, Oh and GO SPRUCEKIT!) Sorry......**


	6. Four: Stormsurge

**A/N: Yay Chapter IV, and wow 45 reviews! Thanks again reviewing, sorry I don't have time to thank you all, gotta post this quick! I'm doing pretty well with Nanowrimo so far wouldn't you say? At least my cable isn't working so I don't get distracted! Well here are the final two Zodiac's, Otterkit and Rushkit. **

**And you do get to see a glimpse of both of their powers in this chapter, and you never know how powers may evolve. They do that sometimes! Well I hope you all like this, and please drop a review if you can! Adios!**

**~Leo~**

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* * *

**

**CHAPTER IV**

A bolt of electricity shot through the darkening rumbled through the forest, sounding like trees falling and hitting the earth.

A downpour set itself onto the RiverClan camp, forcing all into their dens for an early night. The water from the rain poured over the rocks outside the camp, falling into the raging rivers which crashed onto the shore.

Otterkit huddled at the back of the nursery with her mother Berryheart, and sister Dawnkit, bright blue eyes round as the tempest raged only fox-lengths away.

"Is the camp going to flood?" her cream-furred sister asked, her pale golden eyes rounded in fright.

Berryheart hushed her kit, "Of course not young one, and even if it did we'd be fine. You know that the nursery is made to float, that way the water would just carry us to land."

More lightning shot across the sky, lighting up the darkened nursery for a brief moment. Otterkit spotted her friend Rushkit at the opposite side, peeking out the entrance at the tempest before him.

"Wanna play a game?" she mewed, walking over to the gray and white tom.

Rushkit looked up, "Not really" he meowed truthfully, "I want to be out in the storm, doesn't it look so cool?!".

Otterkit simply stared at her friend like the time Minnowtail the elder told the clan she was expecting a litter of kits.

"Are you mad?" she squeaked while cuffing his ears playfully, "Warriors cant even go out there, what makes you think a barely six-moon old kit can?".

Rushkit flicked his ear, "Thats precisely it, We're six-moons old, we shouldn't be kits anymore! We should be apprentices!".

Otterkit sighed solemnly, Mallowstar had delayed their apprenticeship on reasons unbeknownst to her, but her father Grassfoot said it was because of the tension with WindClan.

Lost in her train of though for a short moment, as she turned around Otterkit realized her friend was gone.

"Rushkit!" she called, seeing his tiny gray body running through the tempest.

_I have to save him! _Otterkit didn't know why but she always felt a sort of kinship towards Rushkit, they were best friends!

"Otterkit no!" her mother screeched like an owl, but the gray-blue kit had already raced out of the nursery.

The harsh rain drops batted her pelt like pebbles, and the force of the storm almost crashed Otterkit into the rivers surrounding her. Squinting her eyes through the massive storm, Otterkit had no idea where Rushkit went.

Feeling a sense of urgency, she raced to the opposite side of the clearing, blue eyes watching for any signs of him.

And then Otterkit's heart almost stopped as she saw a tiny paw flailing above the water, the water crashing in the river.

"Oh no" she gasped as waves forced the kit back under.

Otterkit screeched to a halt at the edge of the river, what now? For a moment she gazed directly into the massive crashing waves before her, and she soon got lost in its power.

She felt a sensation come over her, it made her feel like the water was her friend, and that if she dove in right now she wouldn't get hurt.

"Otterkit get away from the edge!" she heard a yowl come from Petalfur the deputy.

But she had to do this, Otterkit had to save Rushkit. With one last look to the white furred deputy and to her clan, Otterkit dove head first in the raging water.

The force she impacted with the waves was tremendous, and for a moment Otterkit saw nothing but black. And then she could feel herself sinking to the bottom of the crashing river,

Otterkit was going to die, she was going to suffocate. But then something peculiar happened as Otterkit drifted along, she saw bubbles rising from her nose.

_I can breath!? _Immediately the blue-gray cat tested breathing, and she could! Not only could the little kit breathe underwater, but she glided through the depths like a fish!

_This is amazing, _Otterkit thought as she twirled upside down and swam to the bottom. But then she realized the whole reason she risked her life, Rushkit was still down here, and he couldn't breathe underwater!

Shooting forward like a falcon underwater, Otterkit looked with her bright blue eyes for any sign of her friend.

The water was as dark as stone, but still she could see through it, almost as if her eyes had another layer. And then she spotted Rushkit sinking to the bottom, his eyes still open in terror.

_Don't worry, _she thought to herself, _I'm going to save you. _

Quickly swimming towards the suffocating kit, Otterkit firmly grasped his scruff and headed towards the surface. The waves were still crashing angrily around her, and Otterkit had to use all her strength to push through them, and onto land.

Cats were waiting at the edge as Otterkit made it to them, dropping Rushkit and quickly looking for Whiteleopard.

But why wasn't anyone helping Rushkit, couldn't they see that he was hurt?

All eyes were placed on Otterkit, most in awe, or others horrified.

But Otterkit didn't care what they thought of her, she was a Zodiac and finally knew what her power was. And not only could she use it, but Otterkit could save lives, and most importantly Rushkit's life.

_I'm going to train and master my power, _her eyes gleamed with anticipation, _And I'm going to use it for the good of RiverClan. _

_

* * *

_

Rushkit blinked open his pale gray eyes, as sunlight poured in through the hanging lichen. His head pounded like a rock had fallen on top of it, what in StarClan's name happened?

"Whiteleopard" he meowed quietly, seeing the black and white spotted she-cat sitting in the corner of the Medicine Cat's den.

She turned and with an amber glare padded over to him, "I see the daredevil is awake" she pressed her paw to his head to examine, "StarClan knows you caused enough trouble for a moon, what were you thinking Rushkit?".

He lowered his head in confusion, what was Whiteleopard talking about, and why was she so angry with him? But then memories came flooding back to Rushkit from the previous night.

The storm hitting RiverClan camp hard, and Rushkit just wanted to prove that he was strong enough to be out there.

After all Mallowstar did delay their apprentice ceremony, Rushkit just thought maybe he was waiting for them to prove themselves.

"If it wasn't for Otterkit fishing you out" Whiteleopard growled while applying a poultice to his head, "Then you'd be nothing more than a large pebble at the bottom of the river."

Rushkit rose his head at the name of his friend, "Otterkit saved me, but how?".

Would his best friend really risk her life for him? And then a thought came to Rushkit, She's not hurt is she? Almost as if Whiteleopard knew what he was thinking, she sighed.

"Don't worry Otterkit's fine, actually its Otterpaw now. Mallowstar held the ceremony this morning, and you would have been an apprentice by now if you didn't pull that stupid stunt last night."

The words stung Rushkit like an adders fang, he was just ruining his life, now he was never going to be an apprentice!

Why oh why did he have to wander into the storm last night?

The whole clan probably thinks he's a maniac now! Bad things always had to happen to Rushkit, ever since he was born the runt of the litter, his sister Thunderkit teased him constantly about his size.

And then there was the fact that Rushkit's father paid absolutely no attention to him, and when he did speak to Rushkit, it wasn't pleasant. And now he had to ruin his only chance whatsoever at becoming an apprentice, Rushkit wanted to just curl up and die!

"Don't worry" Whiteleopard's soft meow broke his feeling of distraught, "I'm sure Mallowstar will make you an apprentice, its just what kind of apprentice that he makes you."

Rushkit perked his ears, what kind of apprentice? Wasn't there only one kind?

"I've seen how you are with the younger kits" Whiteleopard bent down to sit next to him, "Your very empathetic, that's the trait that defines Medicine Cats."

"A Medicine Cat?" Rushkit echoed the words in utter and complete disgust, "I don't want to be a Medicine Cat, I want to be a warrior!".

How could Whiteleopard even suggest such a stupid thing? That's the whole reason Rushkit went out into the storm last night, he wanted to prove that just because he was small, he could be a warrior!

"Your a Zodiac Rushkit, you can't be pulling stunts like that ever again. If not for your own safety, then for the safety of RiverClan!" Whiteleopard's words held great wisdom.

"Don't you realize that you were sent here from StarClan for a reason? You have a gift, even if we don't know what that gift is quite yet."

Rushkit didn't want to hear anymore of this nonsense, he wasn't going to be a Medicine Cat and that was final! And he didn't want to be a stupid Zodiac either, not to mention the stupid symbol StarClan gave him.

Yes Rushkit had a symbol, his pads were pure white. White as snow, white as the clouds above his head. He glanced down at his two front pads, what use was having stupid white pads, that was a stupid symbol!

Hearing a distraught grunt from Whiteleopard, Rushkit heightened his gray gaze, and gasped at what he saw. There was a wreathing red light surrounding the Medicine Cat, it swirled and dappled like water but was the color of fire.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" she snapped, the light around her intensifying like an inferno.

And then something clicked in Rushkit's mind, the color was red because Whiteleopard was angry! Glancing across the den to see Copperpool who was sleeping peacefully after having a thorn stuck in her pool, Rushkit saw a cool blue light surrounding her.

"I have a power!" he instantly yelped, Rushkit wasn't useless after all.

But there was something that bothered the young kit, what was this power, and what use could it have towards RiverClan? Whatever it was though, Rushkit needed to find out soon, he had a feeling its going to have use in the near future.

And what that use was, _Rushkit could only wait to find out. _

_

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_**Once again who do you like more? Otterkit or Rushkit (I love Otterkit, isn't her power awesome?)**


	7. Five: Firebolt

**A/N: Time for a massive update! This chapter was supposed to be rather short, but it turned out to be the longest one yet. Well you've met all the characters now, how do you think I did with names? In the future chapters I'll be asking your opinnion on their warrior/medicine cat names, even though I have most decided. **

**Well Chapter V is pretty intense, for one you get to learn what Charredpaw's power is, and then you get to see that Bluepaw is becoming slightly crazy. Hmmm....or is she? Anyway needless to say I hope you like the chapter, I can't believe I'm updating everyday! Please review, can I hit 65? **

**~Leo~**

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****CHAPTER V**

Charredpaw sat atop the rocky ledge, staring out across the gritty cloud infested sky. A flock of crows rose flew away swiftly from the trees they perched in, as thunder rumbled across the forest.

But the apprentice barely heard their caws as he leapt from stone to stone, keeping his balance as he made it back to the bottom.

"You know you aren't a squirrel right?" he turned to see a red-brown furred tom, smirking with his amber stare. It was Redlion, the youngest warrior in ThunderClan, as well as Charredpaw's mentor.

"Can we go hunting?" the ginger apprentice asked hopefully, all the prey must have been scared out of their nests, it was the best time to hunt!

Redlion nodded, "Alright, let me just ask Dovestar one thing before we go. Why don't you get a piece of fresh-kill?".

Charredpaw agreed to his mentors terms, and as a light rain began to fall from the clouded sky, he padded over to the fresh-kill pile.

"Hi Charredpaw!" the oldest apprentice Alderpaw greeted him.

"Hi" he bowed his head to the brown she-cat, next to her sat Snowpaw and Mossypaw, two of the senior apprentices.

"Come eat with us" Mossypaw offered, pushing a magpie towards him with a tortoiseshell paw.

"Thanks" Charredpaw meowed as he began to devour the bird.

Magpie's weren't his particular favorite choice of food, Charredpaw much preferred mice or shrew. As he finished the last of his meal, the apprentice scanned the clearing for any signs of Sandpaw.

_He must be off training,_ Charredpaw barely ever got to see his brother now that they were apprentices, although that was bound to happen eventually.

As he began talking with the three apprentices, Charredpaw noticed Bluepaw sitting towards the nursery, her ears drooped like a sad rabbit.

"What's wrong with Bluepaw?" he asked Heatherpaw who just joined the conversation.

The she-cats sister looked up and sighed, "She's mad because she wants to become Starlingsong's apprentice, but Jayfeather won't retire."

The old Medicine Cat had become quite a nuisance to ThunderClan in the recent days, not only did he refuse to retire, but often Jayfeather wandered off into the forest in the middle of the night.

And Dovestar of course being kin to the old Medicine Cat, always ordered a warrior to watch over him, which in turn aggravated the warriors.

It was all a vicious circle, that all would be ended if Jayfeather would just join his brother and become an elder.

And not only was Jayfeather kin to Dovestar, but kin to Charredpaw as well. Burntpelt his father was the son of Lionblaze, which somehow made Jayfeather his Great-Uncle.

"You know" Snowpaw meowed as he stretched on the grass, "My Grandfather Foxleap says Jayfeather is half WindClan, his father was a WindClan warrior."

Charredpaw spat out the food he was chewing on, "What? That's nonsense!".

If Jayfeather was half WindClan, then so was Lionblaze! And that meant that a very small part of Charredpaw was WindClan as well.

As the apprentices continued to argue if the information Snowpaw said was accurate or not, Charredpaw spotted Redlion beckoning him towards the Thorn-Tunnel.

"Got to go" he meowed while getting up, "Bye!".

"Bye Charredpaw" a loud goodbye came from Mossypaw who was staring at him with lustrous green eyes, she didn't like him did she? Shaking the peculiar she-cat from his mind, Charredpaw met Redlion at the Thorn-Tunnel.

"Ready to go?" his mentor asked while gazing up at the storm above his head.

"Yup" Charredpaw padded past his mentor, and into the darkening forest.

Rain began to fall through the leaves and branches, falling onto Charredpaw's dark red pelt. He gazed through the trees before him, there was no sign of life whatsoever.

"Maybe we should head back" Redlion meowed cautiously, sounding more like the apprentice then the mentor.

But Charredpaw didn't want to go back yet, he wanted to hunt and provide for his clan! Even though there was enough prey caught for the day, Charredpaw still wanted to prove himself.

A jagged lightning bolt cut through the sky, lighting up the path before Charredpaw for a short moment. Any prey stupid enough to be out here in a storm like this would have hidden by now, maybe Redlion was right.

"Do you smell that?" the young warrior asked suddenly, pausing next to an oak tree.

"Smell what?" Charredpaw turned and opened his mouth to let in the scents of the air.

At first he smelled nothing but the fresh scents of rain and the forest around him, but then a scent that choked his throat wreathed through the air.

"Smoke" he breathed the word with disgust, "It's coming from the camp!".

Instantly exchanging a horrified look with his mentor, both red-furred cats raced back to camp. In the distance an orange light flickered near the thorn tunnel, it was a fire!

Images of his mother and siblings appeared in Charredpaw's mind, all of them were back at camp. In the distance he could see cats exiting the Thorn-Tunnel swiftly, maybe all of them would make it out!

Catching up to the remaining ThunderClan cats, Charredpaw spotted his brother Sandpaw.

"Are you okay?" he asked nuzzling his brothers fur, "Where's Scorchcloud?".

Sandpaw began coughing and flicked his tail back to camp, "She was with the queens, thats where the lightning struck. Elders....trapped."

Charredpaw gasped and immediately without a second thought pushed through the ThunderClan cats to enter his camp.

The fire raged like an angry badger, its burning edges lapping at the rocky wall angrily. Charredpaw searched the burning clearing for any signs of life, and then spotted the queens with their kits trapped in between a ring of fire.

_No,_ his eyes grew round with horror,_ they'll die!_

Stepping forward to look at the fire, Charredpaw's amber eyes soon became mesmerized by the scorching mass. Its different shades flickered a fox-length in front of Charredpaw, and for a moment he thought it was calling his name.

The apprentice stepped closer to the flames, as if feeling some sort of bond to the fire, like he wouldn't get hurt.

_I won't get hurt,_ he told himself, stepping forward so his paw was in the fire. Expecting it to catch the flames, Charredpaw drew it back with a sharp hiss. But not only did his paw not catch on fire, it didn't hurt one bit!

"I won't get hurt" he whispered with a gasp, "I'm immune".

Stepping his full body into the inferno, Charredpaw looked at the flames all around him. He noticed the queens yowling in terror, huddling their kits close to their bellies.

Focusing his mind on a small breach in the fire, Charredpaw could feel himself becoming connected with the inferno. And then all at once, it separated, forming a large enough exit so the queens and kits could make it out.

_I can control fire,_ he gasped with a realization, _maybe I can destroy it too! _Focusing his mind once more on the burning inferno, Charredpaw directed it towards the rock wall surrounding the camp.

The fire soon began to move past the apprentice, and in no time the only thing it could burn was rock. Soon the once massive inferno was nothing more than a small flame, extinguishing its smoke into the sky.

Knowing he held great power, the only thing Charredpaw could do at this moment was look at the symbol on the tip of his tail.

And it was at that point that the young apprentice realized, the symbol was swirling flames.

* * *

Bluepaw reluctantly took a peak back into ThunderClan camp. It was scorched dry, but at least it didn't destroy any of the dens.

Cats were cheering all around her, chanting Charredpaw's name in joy. The other Zodiac of ThunderClan had obviously found his power, unlike Bluepaw.

She didn't know exactly what her power was, but her mind was buzzing with whispers all around her. The same whispers she heard on the night of the Crescent Moon, it was the spirits of StarClan.

"Your a hero!" Bluepaw fell to the ground as Mossypaw pushed past her, running to Charredpaw like a dumbstruck robin.

_Don't mind me, _Bluepaw narrowed her eyes as she pulled herself up from the ground._ If this is what having a power is like, _she thought as cats crowded around Charredpaw,_ then I'm glad I don't know what mine is yet._

Separating herself from the rest of the clan, Bluepaw kept her eyes open for her mentor Morningwillow, who was nowhere to be seen.

Ivypool and Bumblebee were helping the cats back into ThunderClan camp, still wary of the storm above. Everyone was alright, although the elders were having a coughing fit.

Sighing as she saw Starlingsong was to busy treating the queens and that Jayfeather wandered off, Bluepaw disappeared behind a bramble bush. Quickly she came back with a bitter tasting root in her mouth, and dropped it next to Icecloud.

"Here's some ginger root, eat it, it should help with your throat until I can get some honey" she pushed it towards the three elders.

"Thanks" Icecloud and Foxleap meowed as they began to eat the ends off.

"You'd make a great Medicine Cat" Lionblaze mentioned, his old golden eyes watching her proudly.

Bluepaw snorted, "Try telling Jayfeather that, I can't become one until he retires."

With a sigh Lionblaze laid down onto the cool grass, "That's the problem with my brother, he's as stubborn as ShadowClan is greedy. The only way he'd retire is if StarClan told him themselves, and thats not going to happen."

Bluepaw silently agreed, no it wasn't, at least not soon.

As the clan began to enter ThunderClan camp, Bluepaw felt the urge to get away from all the commotion, she needed some time alone. Making sure no one saw her, Bluepaw padded swiftly into the forest, heading in the direction of the lake.

The sky was still dark as clouds rolled across in large numbers, but at least it wasn't storming, and that meant no more lightning.

The reeds at the base of the lake blew gently in the wind, as the lake rippled and reflected the darkness of the sky. Sitting atop a rock near the shore, Bluepaw looked up into StarClan.

But StarClan were nowhere to be seen, the clouds were blocking her view of the ancient warrior ancestors.

Bluepaw closed her glassy eyes, listening to the water lap at the shores edge, ever so quietly. The trees swayed in the air above her head, sending tiny leaves flying into the lake.

Here at the lake Bluepaw felt totally connected to the world around her. She often came out here on nights when StarClan didn't speak to her, and met with Yellowfang.

That was the cats name who visited Bluepaw on the first night this all happened, she was a former Medicine Cat of both ShadowClan and ThunderClan.

"I need to speak with you" she told the stars quietly, "I need to know what my power is, and why I need to harness it."

The words Yellowfang spoke that night still haunted Bluekit, why did she need to harness her power, and why did her life depend on it?

Was Bluepaw going to die if she didn't learn how to use her power?

Gazing up into the shaded sky, Bluepaw noticed a tiny gap in the clouds. Tiny stars shone through, one in particular shining brightly in the darkness.

_"I am here young one"_ the aged voice of Yellowfang spoke to Bluepaw, making the apprentice open her eyes in surprise.

"Yellowfang!" she mewed like a kit, walking to the waters edge so she could look into the sky. "I need to know what my power is, why does Charredpaw have one and I don't?".

He had an absolutely powerful power that could kill anyone in his path, and what did Bluepaw have? Nothing!

_"How do you know this isn't your power?"_ Yellowfang's voice asked as it wreathed around Bluepaw,_ "Not all apprentice speak with StarClan on a daily basis you know."_

Sighing Bluepaw kneaded the sand below her, "Your saying my power is to speak with StarClan any time I want to? But what kind of power is that! It doesn't protect me or help me fight like Charredpaw's."

It was a good thing yes if Bluepaw wanted to be a Medicine Cat, buts he wasn't a Medicine Cat, she was a Zodiac for StarClan's sake.

_"I can only tell you one more thing Bluepaw"_ Yellowfang growled form the clouds, _"Some things are better left staying unknown, you never what harm the truth might cause." _

And with that the clouds began to cover up the stars, and Yellowfang's voice faded back into StarClan, leaving Bluepaw even more confused than before.

_I'm going to die,_ she realized, _The only power I have to defend myself is to speak with StarClan, and what good would that do me? _

Bluepaw could only pray to StarClan she learned something new soon,_ or she was doomed to join StarClan earlier than she had in mind._

_

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_**Who do you want to live? Charredpaw or Bluepaw!? (haha, I already know!) peace out!**


	8. Six: Darkwhisper

**A/N: Onto Chapter VI! I know kind of a late update, but I had a busy day! Not to mention I updated Sands of Chaos as well. I put a synopsis of an original book i'm working on, one the update of SOC, be sure to check it out! Yay another Hollow/Umber chapter! For some reason I forgot about them when I wrote the outline, so for the future chapters the characters may be out of order. **

**Another power is revealed! That means only two more cats need there powers, but I didn't particularly specify how many powers a Zodiac has did I? Ha, I'm so mean to all of you, forshadowing like that. Anyway, thank you for the large amount of reviews, I can't thank you enough! Please review more! HA! :)**

**~Leo~**

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**CHAPTER VI**

The scent of pine drifted through the quiet forest,as yellow eyes watched through the darkness. Hollowpaw stepped out from behind a bush, and stared at the eyes.

They were unblinking and as round as the full moon that was in the sky, and then they turned to look straight at the brown apprentice.

"Don't hurt me!" she shrieked, thinking it was a badger or a fox, and turned to run for her life. But as soon as she did, Hollowpaw ran into a black fluff of fur, and howled even louder.

"What in StarClan's name is wrong with you?".

Hollowpaw looked up to see her mentor Lizardfang staring at her with a scowl.

"Sorry" she mumbled, feeling like a stupid kit, "I thought I saw a badger, its eyes were staring right at me!".

The long limbed black warrior padded past his apprentice and stared out through the trees. Hollowpaw brushed the pine needles off of her fur, and carefully waited beside Lizardfang, what if it attacked?

"That's an owl you dimwit!" he finally spat, as a hoot came from the object.

_An owl? _Well how could Hollowpaw have known, she's never seen an owl before!

Lizardfang only sighed, "Honestly I thought you Zodiac's were supposed to hold the forest's future in your paws. I don't feel safe knowing your one of them."

He pushed past Hollowpaw, and off to the stone ridge, where battle training took place.

"Well its not my fault" the apprentice muttered softly, and it wasn't her fault either that she was a Zodiac, what did Hollowpaw just choose to be one before she was born?!

"Are you coming or not!?" a loud growl came through the trees, and instantly the apprentice darted towards her mentor, sighing along the way.

She didn't know why Lizardfang chose to train at night on her first day as an apprentice, it wasn't exactly the best time for it.

It wasn't that Hollowpaw couldn't see, the moonlight cast plenty enough light for her. It was just the fact that she didn't particularly like the darkness, even though it was barely dusk.

As the two ShadowClan cats made it to the rocky circle where cats battle trained, its edges were as jagged as a badgers fangs.

"Come stand in the center" Lizardfang commanded, his yellow eyes more piercing than that spooky owl.

A little nervous, Hollowpaw did as she was told, and stood at the center of the circle.

"Let's see if the precious Zodiac knows how to fight, I bet your not so tough now that your not around the whole clan" Lizardfang spat with a roll of his eyes.

"Honestly I don't know why they encourage it, I think your going to kill the forest just like Dawnpelt said, your cursed."

Hollowpaw felt anger rising in her veins, she wanted to slash her claws across Lizardfang's face, that would shut him up.

"I don't know why Scorchstar gives you extra attention either, If I was leader I'd make there were cats watching you constantly. These Zodiac's cant be trusted" the black warrior scowled like an angry vixen.

Hollowpaw glared sharply, "Then I guess its good that your not leader. Now are you going to show me how to fight or are you going to insult me the whole night?".

With a spat of disgust, Lizardfang bent down to the ground, and without a moments notice, he sprung at Hollowpaw.

Taken aback by the sudden attack, Hollowpaw could only duck to the ground. But as he flew over her, Lizardfang scathed his claws along her back, drawing blood.

"Ow!" she cried out as he landed, "You cut my pelt!".

Lizardfang only chuckled, "Now I see why Umberpaw has his power and you don't, your weak."

Un-Sheathing her claws, Hollowpaw was considering slicing them through Lizardfang at this very moment. But instead she chose to use words instead of claws.

"You know Lizardfang, you can just take you bad attitude and jump out a tree!" she glared at him with her bright amber eyes.

Expecting him to lash out at her, Hollowpaw turned to leave, but Lizardfang continued staring into nothing. And thats the moment Hollowpaw noticed his eyes were black, not just dark, but as black as an eclipse.

"If that's what you wish" he muttered, his tone non existent.

Hollowpaw stood in her spot, more confused than ever, was Lizardfang actually listening to her? But the confusion soon turned into horror, as her black furred mentor began climbing a nearby Poplar Tree, jumping from one branch to another.

"What are you doing!?" Hollowpaw howled up to him, "I wasn't serious!".

Was Lizardfang just playing a prank? If that was the case then why were his eyes completely black?

Hollowpaw could only see his black outline against the moonlight, Lizardfang was standing on the edge of a branch, staring into nothing. And thats when he preceded to move forward, and jumped off the branch, onto the ground below.

"No!" the apprentice shrieked as Lizardfang's body fell to the ground with a sickening crunch, he was dead on impact.

Covering her eyes with her tail, Hollowpaw refused to look at the body. But then curiosity sparked her interest, and she moved forward cautiously. Lizardfang's eyes had faded from black, back to yellow, how peculiar.

And as she gazed at her mentors dead body, only one thing popped into Hollowpaw's mind. _I think I've found my power. _

_

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_

Umberpaw sat under the hanging willow, his pitch black eyes staring out across the camp. As night fell onto ShadowClan, warriors were eating their last meal of the day, and apprentices were chattering about the days events.

"Grizzlyfur took me to the RiverClan border today" a small orange tom meowed as he devoured a robin.

"Yes Pumkinpaw" a gray she-cat growled, "We all know you have the best mentor in ShadowClan, but that doesn't mean you have to rub it in our faces."

"Sorry Smokepaw" Pumkinpaw lowered his gaze, as the she-cat snorted.

Umberpaw simply ignored the two siblings, he didn't really like any of the ShadowClan apprentices. Goldenheart and Eclipsefall had only been warriors for a moon and a half now, but Umberpaw still wished they were apprentices.

He had formed quite a close bond to Eclipsefall when they were in the nursery together, but now the black-furred tom was going to be a father to Goldenheart's kits.

He spotted the light golden tabby she-cat stretching outside the nursery, her belly round with many kits. Scarletshine had said when queens expect kits in New-Leaf, the litter is much larger than if they were to have them in Leaf-Fall.

_That's why there's only me and Hollowpaw, _Umberpaw knew that he and his sister were born on the first moon of Leaf-Bare, thats when all of the Zodiac's were born.

But in a way all of the Zodiac's were siblings, they were born on the exact moment after all.

"Did you hear Redwillow's retiring to the elders den?" a white and brown she-cat meowed as she joined the conversation.

"Big deal" Smokepaw snorted, "Honestly Whiskerpaw, if I was leader I'd force the senior warriors to retire. They're pretty much elders to begin with, not to mention they just keep us all up babbling on about the old days."

As the gray apprentice spoke, she missed the fact that Appleleaf, a senior warrior, was standing right behind her.

"I'll be sure to tell Scorchstar that" the tortoiseshell meowed while flicking her ear, "You do know he's from the same litter as Redwillow?".

Umberpaw could only chuckle as his mentor humiliated Smokepaw, Appleleaf had quite a sense of humor.

As the night dragged on, Umberpaw found himself waiting at the edge of the camp. For some reason he felt a sense of urgency run through his veins, like something wasn't quite right.

At this moment he wasn't blending in with the darkness, Umberpaw had only just realized that he could control his power. Up until he was six-moons old, it would just happen whenever night fell.

Even when the storm hit last moon he disappeared, it was that dark.

_Where's Hollowpaw? _After a long while of waiting, Umberpaw began to get worried. Lizardfang, one of the youngest warriors, had taken his sister out for battle training at dusk.

It was well past midnight now, and still no sign of either. But as Umberpaw turned to get some sleep, he heard a shrill yowl sound from the forest.

"Hollowpaw!" instantly without a second thought, the pitch black apprentice kicked up dirt as he skidded towards the yowl. It was coming from Rock Circle, Hollowpaw might be hurt!

_I swear if that stupid piece of fox-dung touched one hair on my sisters pelt, I'll tear him to shreds!_ Everyone knew that Lizardfang was a pest, not to mention he had a disliking towards Zodiac's and she-cats.

Sadly for Hollowpaw, she was both.

Making his way to the sound of the yowl, Umberpaw noticed a cat following him.

"Appleleaf!" he meowed gratefully, as his tortoiseshell mentor ran alongside him.

"If there's trouble let me handle it" she told him with a firm command, as they continued to run towards the sound. Making there way to the Rock Circle, Umberpaw spotted a dark body on the ground.

_Oh no, please StarClan no. _

He padded slowly to the body, but then noticed it was to long and large to be Hollowpaw's.

"Lizardfang's dead" he announced, as more cats began to join them. Urgently looking around the clearing for any sign of his sister, Umberpaw noticed a tail behind a tree.

"Hollowpaw!" he ran over to find his sister hiding behind a Rowan Tree, her tail curled around her eyes as she shiver.

"He....He's dead isn't he?" she stuttered as Umberpaw helped her up, "Lizardfang's dead!".

"Shh...Shh" Umberpaw comforted his sister, giving her a lick on the ear, "It's going to be okay."

"What happened here?" a growl came from a fox-length away, as Nettleclaw the ShadowClan deputy looked at Hollowpaw. Slowly his sister padded towards the Dark brown spotted tom, and lowered her head.

"Lizardfang was running after a squirrel, but then it ran up a tree. I told him not to climb it but he didn't listen! And then he fell" she began choking on the words, "And now he's dead!".

Hollowpaw's voice came out like a whimper as Duskpetal rushed to help her daughter.

Cats began talking instantly about the sight before them, most either mourning the loss of Lizardfang, or feeling bad for Hollowpaw.

But as Umberpaw lay in the shadows of night, he knew that Hollowpaw was lying. There was no way a warrior would climb that far up a tree for just a squirrel, and even if they did they wouldn't fall!

No Hollowpaw was hiding something, but what reason would she have to?

_Umberpaw's sister wasn't evil was she? _

_

* * *

_**Who should die? Hollowpaw or Umberpaw? (Silently voting for Umberpaw). **


	9. Seven: Rockwall

**A/N: Yay another update! I can't believe how many of you are reviewing, thanks so much! Well here's Chapter VII, from none other than Ferretpaw and Sprucepaw's POV. Another power is revealed in this chapter, but whose power is it? I made up a list of each cat, their symbol and their power which I'll post in like a minute. **

**I'm going to be asking for warrior names soon, well that is which name you think is the best. I'm updating Age of Lost Souls as well tonight, and I began work on Terra: Blood Moon last night. Its going to be so cool and I hope you guys like it, my goal is to post it on November 24th, when OOTS: The Fourth Apprentice comes out. Anyway enough babble talk, please review! Update again tomorrow! **

**~Leo~**

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****CHAPTER VII**

A Kestrel flew in the sun-high sky_, _its wings cast a large shadow over the traveling WindClan patrol. They traveled tail to tail alongside the lakes shore, keeping eyes and ears alert for any signs of danger.

Ferretpaw padded near the water, it reeked of a smell mixed of fish and mud.

"Yuck" he spat, "I'm sure glad I'm not a RiverClan cat."

His mentor Goldgrass gave him a nudge to keep moving, Ferretpaw hadn't noticed that Sunstrike was moving so swiftly. As he padded next to Sprucepaw, the cream and brown apprentice felt an odd feeling come over him.

He felt a sort of kinship between him and the brown apprentice, after all they shared a common bond. Both were Zodiac's of WindClan.

"So have you found your power yet?" Ferretpaw asked, his voice coming out nothing more than a nervous squeak.

The brown apprentice lifted her green gaze and nodded. "When Sunstrike and I were hunting the other day, I found it. But I don't know what use it is, It's not like it will help bring peace to the forest or anything."

Ferretpaw perked his ears, his interest perking as well. If Sprucepaw had already found his power, why hadn't he? Was StarClan waiting to show him it?

"Well" he prodded Sprucepaw, "What is it? What's your power?".

With a sigh the she-cat looked towards the sky, "I can hear what animals of other species are thinking. And not just that but I can see what they're thinking."

Ferretpaw gaped, was his friend serious?

Suddenly he noticed the kestrel circling high in the blue sky, and an idea came. _If that really is Sprucepaw's power, _he thought with a smile, _then let's test it. _

"What's that Kestrel thinking?" he flicked his tail to the light brown bird in the sky.

Sprucepaw blinked while trying to avoid the sunlight, and paused walking for a moment. Ferretpaw watched intensely as her eyes quivered for a short moment, until finally Sprucepaw began walking.

"He's starving" she meowed sadly, "The drought has killed most of the prey around here, and the sun is practically burning him alive."

He could almost sense the emotion flooding from Sprucepaw, her eyes were practically watering!

Ferretpaw shrugged, "It's just a Kestrel, It's not like it has anything to do with us. Just ignore it" he leaned forward to nudge her shoulder. But Sprucepaw moved so he wouldn't touch her and glared with an angered stare.

"It's not just a kestrel" she growled slowly, "It's a living animal Ferretpaw, just like both of us. And if a bird as smart and as good at hunting as that Kestrel is practically dying, where do you think that leaves us? Its a circle of life Ferretpaw! If the drought scorches the grass which its doing, then the rabbits and other small animals die. If we don't get prey than we die. Don't you see? We're all connected in one big circle, one can't live without the other!".

The intensity in Sprucepaw's burning green eyes was intimidating, Ferretpaw felt like a tiny kit getting scolded by Rosefern.

"I guess your right" the apprentice shrugged.

Sprucepaw had made a good argument. Soon the newly made apprentice began to wonder about this Circle of Life. He looked down at the brown grass below his paws, it was only a portion of how beautiful it once was.

The drought had become quite a problem for the clans in the last moon. Not only was it intensely hot, but the lake was drying up! The mud down by the shore was thick and disgusting.

Not to mention it was covered with fish carcasses and rotting animals who got stuck in it.

In fact the previous day, Ferretpaw's father Ravenpelt helped get Horizonpaw out of the mud. All the other apprentices made him sleep outside for the night, he stunk worse than a dead skunk!

Soon the grassy moor began to transform into woods as the patrol neared Horse-Place. Ferretpaw began to notice that he and Sprucepaw were lagging behind, but Sunstrike just walked so darn fast!

Looking at the beautiful brown apprentice, Ferretpaw began to wonder what his power might be. He hoped it was something impressive, and then not only would all of WindClan look upon him with glory, but so would Sprucepaw.

But another thought lingered in the toms mind, why was it taking so long for him to find his power? Did StarClan even intend to give him one?

_But why would they give me a symbol? _He flicked his lightning bolt marked ear, There was no point in giving him that if he wasn't going to be given a power.

"The lightning bolt" Ferretpaw muttered out loud, maybe his power was to shoot lightning at other cats!

_That would be awesome, _Ferretpaw thought with a smile. Not to mention it would keep other clans at bay. Increasing his speed, Ferretpaw kept his eyes peeled for any mangy RiverClan warriors.

There were rumors that they were stealing prey, but of course at the gathering, Mallowstar accused Thistlestar of stealing prey.

"We wouldn't want to eat your scaly fish anyway" Ferretpaw mumbled to himself, tearing up some of the bracken below him.

"What did you say?" Sprucepaw stopped to look at him, making Ferretpaw twitch nervously.

He was about to respond, but a loud noise made him stop cold. A bark sounded from the Horse-Place, and before they even realized what happened, Ferretpaw spotted a large black and white dog racing towards them.

The patrol was already far ahead, and the only thing in between the two apprentices and the dog, was moor.

* * *

Instantly Sprucepaw tugged at Ferretpaw's scruff, "Come on we have to move!".

The dog's paws were thundering on the ground like falling boulders, white foam falling from its tooth filled mouth. Sprucepaw ran in the direction of the lake, where trees and boulders were abundant.

She could hear harsh thoughts coming from the angered dog, but the only word it was barking, was "_Kill, Must kill."_ And Sprucepaw knew that was exactly what the dog would do to them if it caught either of the two. They needed to find shelter, fast.

"It's going to kill us!" Ferretpaw squealed, his bushy tail blowing in the wind.

Sprucepaw tightened her muscles, "Yeah, no kidding." She had never encountered a dog before, but quite often they would chase away WindClan or even RiverClan patrols.

"Maybe we can go in the lake" Ferretpaw suggested as he panted, "We can swim across to the island."

"First of all we can't swim that far" Sprucepaw spoke swiftly, "And second of all dogs can swim, Kestrelflight told me so."

No they wouldn't able to swim away, but perhaps if they were able to go somewhere the dog couldn't. _Like a crevice! _That was exactly what they needed to find, but the question lingering in the back of Sprucepaw's mind, was would they?

She took a quick glance to see where the dog was.

"Ah!" Sprucepaw gasped as she realized that the black and white canine was only two fox-lengths behind them. One bite and it could take their tails!

"Here" Ferretpaw yowled, direction Sprucepaw towards a stone crevice.

With all her might, Sprucepaw darted towards the crevice, and was about to go in when she realized the dog had them cornered. Even if they hid in the crevice, which they didn't have enough time for, the dog would only wait for them to come out.

"What do we do?" Ferretpaw asked as he backed up, the dog was approaching with a snarl.

Sprucepaw didn't know what to say, she could hear the dogs thoughts loud and clear.

_"Need to protect humans, cats don't belong."_ If only Sprucepaw could just make the mutt go away, but sadly she couldn't speak its language.

"Leave us alone!" Sprucepaw took a step forward, her green eyes focused on the dog.

It snarled loudly, and with a bunch of its black-furred muscles, leaped into the air. Sprucepaw slammed her paw onto the ground in instinct, and instantly the earth in front of her shot up into the air.

The wall of ground shot right in front of the dog, creating a barrier between it and them. For a moment Sprucepaw stood there in shock, had she done that?

"No fair!" Ferretpaw spat, "You have two powers? Oh I just know it, StarClan cursed me!".

But the brown she-cat wasn't listening at all, she was simply staring at the wall of earth and front of her. Indeed Sprucepaw did have another power.

And at least with this one she could defend not only herself, _but those who needed protecting. _

_

* * *

_**Who do you want to live? Ferretpaw or Sprucepaw (WOOHOO GO SPRUCEPAW!)........**


	10. Zodiac Symbols & Powers List

**A/N: Here's a bit of a guide to keep track of the many characters of Zodiac, not to mention their powers and symbols as well! Some still might develop more than one power, and I may update it again. And I bet your all wondering what will Ferretpaw's power be? Hmm you should find out soon, but the lightning bolt on his ear may give you a hint!**

**~Leo~**

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**_**-ZODIACS-**_

**CHARREDPAW**

_**SYMBOL:** Swirling flames on the tip of his tail._

_**POWER: **Can control and manipulate fire._

_**CLAN: **ThunderClan._

**BLUEPAW**

_**SYMBOL: **Crescent Moon on her front paw._

_**POWER:** May speak with StarClan any time, and anywhere._

_**CLAN:** ThunderClan._

**HOLLOWPAW**

_**SYMBOL:** Two eyes on the back of her ears._

_**POWER: **Can whisper and tell cats what to do, even to kill themselves. And they'll listen._

_**CLAN: **ShadowClan_

**UMBERPAW**

_**SYMBOL: **Pure black eyes._

_**POWER: **Can disappear in the darkness completely._

_**CLAN:** ShadowClan._

**FERRETPAW**

_**SYMBOL: **Lightning bolt on his left ear._

_**POWER:** Unknown._

_**CLAN: **WindClan._

**SPRUCEPAW**

_**SYMBOL:** Leaf on her front paw._

_**POWER:** Can hear the thoughts of different animals species, and can manipulate and control earth._

_**CLAN: **WindClan._

**OTTERPAW**

_**SYMBOL:** Eyes that turn the color of Sapphire's when water touches her._

_**POWER:** To breathe and swim underwater, can also manipulate and control water._

_**CLAN:** RiverClan._

**RUSHPAW**

_**SYMBOL:** Pure white pads._

_**POWER: **Senses auras of those around him._

_**CLAN:** RiverClan._


	11. Eight: Bloodburn

**A/N: Well here's Chapter Eight, sorry it's posted kind of late, I really didn't feel like writing today. Mostly because I'm depressed and we have no money here, and all I do now is school and writing. But nonetheless I forced myself to write a chapter, and here it is, Otterpaw and Rushpaw time. **

**Well someone gets another power, as you can see a lot of the Zodiac's have more than one. And just to clear something up, Umber is a dark brown color. Umberpaw has a dark brown shade mixed in with his black fur, so that's why I named him that! I'd just like to thank all of you for reviewing, I'll update again tomorrow! Thanks!  
**

**~Leo~**

**

* * *

****CHAPTER VIII**

Water splashed onto the dried shore, creating dark spots where the water seeped into the sand. Otterpaw dove through the murky surface of the lake, the water cooling her pelt which felt like it was on fire.

Bubbles rose to the surface as she started to breath underwater, this was amazing! Otterpaw saw fish swim by her glassy gaze, some even turning to look at her in what looked like surprise.

_I love my power,_ Otterpaw thought as she twirled through the cool aqua mass.

She kicked with her back paws to go further down to the bottom of the lake, and for a moment she wondered if there even was a bottom. But soon she could see plants rising up from the sand beneath her, they seemed to dance as the water current picked up.

Suddenly feeling hungry, Otterpaw spotted a trout less than a fox-length away. Narrowing her eyes, the light gray cat shot through the water like an underwater falcon, catching the fish in her jaws on impact.

She quickly killed it, and soon began catching fish after fish.

At this rate Otterpaw was going to feed the whole clan! Surfacing to drop another fish on her growing pile, Otterpaw noticed something large underneath her.

It was long and black, and slithered like a snake.

_A snake! _An underwater snake was coming to get Otterpaw! But as she looked closer, Otterpaw soon realized it wasn't a snake at all, it was an Eel.

Sighing as she came above the waters surface, Otterpaw gasped as the hot air entered her lungs. She longed to stay in the cool water, but knew she had to return soon, the clan needed food.

Picking up the three fish by the tails, Otterpaw was just barely able to carry them back to camp in before she dropped them.

"Wow" Patchpaw, a black and white she-cat gaped, "You caught all of that yourself?".

"Yup" Otterpaw smiled as she licked her jaws of the fishy taste, it made her stomach growl.

"Great job Otterpaw" a meow came from her mentor Nightwater, who stood next to his mate Pondripple. Suddenly feeling hot with embarrassment, Otterpaw pawed at her muzzle.

"It was nothing, I just like helping the clan" she didn't want any extra attention, Otterpaw just wanted to be useful, that's all.

As Patchpaw and his sister Lilacpaw took a fish to the queens in the nursery, Otterpaw plopped down on the grass with a contented sigh. She barely noticed her mother Berryheart sitting behind her, the former queens light brown pelt shone in the intense sunlight.

"You know your eyes turn the color of sapphires when your wet" her mother remarked, grooming her daughters pelt until it was fluffy.

"Really?" Otterpaw looked in a small puddle nearby, and gasped. Her eyes did look like sapphires, even though she hadn't seen any before, Whiteleopard said they looked like bright blue stones that reflect the moons light.

And that's exactly what Otterpaw's looked like, although when her pelt began to warm, they soon returned to their dull glassy shade. Entranced in the small rippling puddle, Otterpaw barely noticed as Rushpaw plopped down beside her with an angry sigh.

"What's wrong?" she asked, turning over and prodding her dark gray and white furred friend.

Rushpaw pulled a water vole towards him and looked at Otterpaw, "Whiteleopard made me her apprentice that's whats wrong, I don't even want to be a stupid Medicine Cat! But no, once Mallowstar found out that I could sense cats emotions, he made her my mentor."

Otterpaw felt sympathy for the tom, no cat should be forced to do something they didn't want to. Although Rushpaw probably would make a better Medicine Cat then warrior, he never had been the toughest.

And his physique always had been more that of a she-cats, he was small and pretty, just like Otterpaw!

"Why are you so happy?" Rushpaw smirked as he stared at her.

"Me?" she asked while turning over to eat a bit of trout, "Why do you think I'm happy?".

"Because" Rushpaw growled as he looked at her, "The light around you is golden, that means your happy. Red means angry, and Blue means sad. And when cats are sick, their color is Green."

That was quite complicated, Otterpaw was glad her power wasn't like that! As the day went on, the apprentice soon noticed that tension was in the air, something was wrong.

"Mallowstar's really angry" Rushpaw mentioned as he folded his paws underneath him, "His light is so red it looks like he's on fire!".

"I wonder why?" Otterpaw asked as the leader jumped onto the large rock, and sounded a call.

"Cats of RiverClan" his voice bellowed through the ground. "It has come to my attention that WindClan has been spotted on our border, Petalfur take a patrol to make sure they leave. If they don't, then attack. Send a messenger back so we can get more warriors if there's a battle, I've had enough of them stealing our fish."

Otterpaw perked with excitement as Nightwater told her she was coming on the patrol. Now most cats wouldn't be this excited to fight another clan, but Otterpaw really was.

_I could meet another Zodiac! _And if she did in fact meet another Zodiac, then maybe they could work on bringing peace to the forest.

One thing the forest didn't need, was more fighting. And if there was any way Otterpaw could stop that from happening,_ she most certainly was going to._

_

* * *

_

Rushpaw sat outside the Medicine Cats den, his dark gray eyes staring at the trees surrounding RiverClan camp. A hot breeze drifted fallen leaves near his paws, making the small apprentice look down at his pure white pads.

_Why do I have this power?_ Rushpaw never asked to be a Medicine Cat, he wished StarClan had given him Otterpaw's power instead! At least with that she could still be a warrior, in fact it made her a stronger warrior!

But no, Rushpaw had to stay back at camp while most of WindClan fought RiverClan. Yes Petalfur's patrol had encountered WindClan, and a battle started.

Silversmoke said it was something about a dog chasing them over the border, but obviously Mallowstar hadn't believed that for a second.

"Help me with these herbs" a meow came from inside the den, as Rushpaw rolled his eyes.

"Can't you do them yourself?" he snorted as Whiteleopard handed cobwebs to him, "I mean you are the Medicine Cat".

Whiteleopard lifted her gaze, "And your my apprentice."

"But I don't want to be!" Rushpaw argued, his tale becoming fluffed up in anger. "I don't want to be a stupid Medicine Cat, I want to be out there fighting with Otterpaw! You keep saying that StarClan destined for me to be a Medicine Cat, but don't you think I could still help cats if I'm a warrior?".

His blood felt like it was on fire, Rushpaw had never been so angered in his life! He had started believing that perhaps StarClan did in fact put a curse on him, that's why his life was so horrible.

Whiteleopard paused to stop sorting herbs, and looked at Rushpaw. "If you were in fact a warrior, then what would RiverClan do if you got killed in a battle?".

Confused, Rushpaw looked at his black and white spotted mentor.

"We can't risk losing a Zodiac Rushpaw, especially one with a power like yours. The night you were born StarClan contacted me. They said that each Zodiac would have a power that could either help the clans or destroy them."

Her gaze flickered with both emotion and unease, "Now tell me, which would you rather use your power for?".

Rushpaw shook his head, he didn't want to hear any of this. He was so sick of everyone talking about Zodiac's and StarClan. Rushpaw didn't want to be a Zodiac, he wanted to be himself, he wanted to be Rushpaw!

"Ow" all of a sudden Rushpaw felt a sharp pain in his paw.

"What is it?" Whiteleopard asked worriedly, padding forward to her apprentice. Rushpaw turned over his pad to look at his paw, it hurt like someone sliced it open!

"Oh my" he gasped as his once pure white pad, was no seeping the color red. But nothing was pouring from his pad, it just began turning red like moonlight flowing over the lakes water.

"Whiteleopard!" a call came from outside, as the Medicine Cat ran to the entrance.

Rushpaw looked up to see the warrior Foxfrost limping with the help of Nightwater, his shoulder was ripped open. And as Rushpaw saw the blood dripping onto the bright green grass.

_I have another power,_ he gasped in realization. _And this time it was useful!_

_

* * *

_**Otterpaw or Rushpaw? (I really don't want to kill either of them)**


	12. Nine: Wildfire

**A/N: I can't believe how many reviews I'm getting, thank you all so much! Well I'm trying to be resilient and update Zodiac every day, and so far I've been doing good. I just hope I can keep it up for 20 more days, or else I'll have an angry mob of readers running after me. Well my fingers ache from writing constantly, I had to use Write or Die to get it done. Anyway there's a poll on my profile for Charredpaw and Bluepaw's warrior names. **

**Even though I already know them, if enough of you vote you may change my mind! I hope you like this chapter, and I just wanted to reiterate something. When I said One zodiac will be good and the other bad, I was just talking about Umberpaw or Hollowpaw. All eight of the Zodiac's can choose to use their powers for good or evil, but in the end only four will survive. Thanks, and please review!**

**~Leo~**

**

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**CHAPTER IX**

Cinder and ash covered the rock wall surrounding ThunderClan camp, bits of the small gray flecks still scattered the clearing.

Charredpaw looked down at the scorched grass below his paws, it had turned a dark brown almost black shade. ThunderClan camp was beginning to heal already, but it still looked horrid compared to its once peaceful and tranquil appearance.

"Hey Charredpaw" a meow came from the newly named Snowspots, who was looking out across the camp.

"Aren't you supposed to be on the dawn patrol?" Charredpaw had remembered Dovestar ordering the young warrior only this morning.

Snowspots shrugged, "Alderfern went instead, I guess she wanted to go more than I did."

Charredpaw could sense that there was something else behind the young warriors reasoning, he always did have a bit of a crush on Alderfern.

_Kind of like Mossypaw, _he still was wary constantly of the young she-cat. Mossypaw had a way of sneaking up on Charredpaw at the worst possible times, and then acting like they were practically mates.

Charredpaw was only eight-moons old! He didn't want a mate, and even if he did, he wouldn't have chosen Mossypaw.

As Charredpaw began to walk over to the fresh-kill pile, he noticed Antleg and Pepperfoot gossiping about him. Cats in ThunderClan tended to do that ever since he put out the fire.

Most either praised him like a hero, or cats like Ivypool and Rosepetal said he was evil. But Charredpaw didn't really care what either of the sides thought, he was a loyal cat of ThunderClan, and did what he had to in order to protect it.

_That reminds me,_ Charredpaw thought out of the blue. _I need to learn how to use this power,_ he still hadn't mastered it.

Actually the ginger apprentice was far from mastering it. But where could he practice? There most certainly wasn't any fire still in ThunderClan camp.

But then an idea sparked in the young toms mind, that's it! Last sunrise his brother Sandpaw mentioned that there was still some fire burning near the Moon-Pool, obviously lightning had struck there as well.

And that was good because it was just a small fire, the perfect amount for Charredpaw to harness his ability with!

Padding towards the Thorn-Tunnel, Charredpaw quickly told Mothspots that he was going off to hunt. Sunlight beamed through the tops of the trees, scattering bits of light across the dappled forest floor.

Thankful of the shade cast from the leaves above, Charredpaw padded in the direction of the Moon Pool. The place where Medicine Cats met with StarClan lay past both ThunderClan and WindClan.

As he neared the the cavern, Charredpaw could smell a faint whiff of smoke still lingering in the began to disperse into open grassland, where the once green grass was now scorched into a dark golden shade.

And that's when Charredpaw spotted a tiny flicker out of the corner of his eye. He saw a branch knocked over from the storm. It was scorched pitch black, but it held glowing orange and yellow embers.

_But would this work?_ Technically this wasn't fire, it was just burning embers.

But for some reason Charredpaw felt a deep rooted connection to the fire, he knew he could control it, he sensed it. Narrowing his eyes, the ginger apprentice focused his mind onto the burning embers and all at once the branch erupted into burning flames.

"Woah" Charredpaw gasped, stepping back from the shock of the ignition.

_It worked! _Enthralled by the burning flames only a mouse-length from his face, Charredpaw flicked his tail slowly and the flames began to move.

"Awesome" he gasped as the flame moved in whichever way he flicked his tail.

At this rate Charredpaw was going to be the most powerful Zodiac in the forest, he had the best power out of all of them! But then all at once as his gaze became distracted by a passing rabbit, the flames erupted to twice their size.

The fire spread from the burning tree branch, onto a large oak tree where it began to burn.

"Uh-Oh" Charredpaw didn't know what to do, he didn't have a rock wall to put the fire out this time! Spotting the lake in the distance, the apprentice wondered if he could bring the fire to the lake, even though it was quite far away.

_But I can't just let it burn, cats could get hurt!_ Making up his mind, Charredpaw narrowed his eyes and flicked his tail towards the lake. All at once the flames began to abandon the Oak Tree, and move in the direction of the lake.

For awhile they moved in a slick and neat pathway, and as they moved Charredpaw made sure to stomp on the embers so they wouldn't start another fire.

_This isn't so bad, _Charredpaw was handling this fine!

But as a hot breeze drifted through the warm Green-Leaf air, making the pathway of flames flicker.

"No!" Charredpaw yowled as the inferno began to intensify, it began to break off course.

He tried to stop it from going anywhere, but that only made the flames larger. And Charredpaw could only stare in disbelief as the flames he made burned across the ground, heading towards WindClan territory.

An inferno like that could easily destroy an entire camp, he could have just destroyed all of WindClan.

* * *

Dusk descended onto ThunderClan camp, shadows stretching high onto the rocky ridge enclosing its inhabitants. Bats fluttered in the twilight sky, their tiny wings flapping faster than the speed of light.

Bluepaw sat outside the apprentices den, her bright blue eyes narrowing in anger as she saw Jayfeather exiting his den.

_That should be me! Why couldn't he just retire to the elders den?_ Jayfeather was almost the oldest cat in the clan, expect for his brother Lionblaze, but they were the same age!

Bluepaw just wanted to become a simple Medicine Cat, was that to much to ask?

"But no, he has to act like a piece of fox-dung to everyone!" Bluepaw muttered, her fur becoming puffed out in anger. Noticing Jayfeather exiting ThunderClan camp, Bluepaw wondered if there was any chance of Starlingsong convincing her mentor.

Walking over to the Medicine Cats den, Bluepaw brushed aside the lichen of the cave, and entered.

"Hello Bluepaw" the tortoiseshell and white apprentice greeted her with a warm stare.

"Hi" Bluepaw meowed politely as she padded in the den. She noticed one of the kits Poplarkit sitting in the back of the nursery, sitting in the corner with an angered look on his face.

"Why is he here?" Bluepaw flicked her tail to the small black tom. She hoped Starlingsong wasn't considering him as an apprentice, Poplarkit was only two-moons old!

Starlingsong turned, "Sedgeheart asked me to keep an eye on him, Poplarkit's been having some problems lately."

"Problems?" Bluepaw perked her ears, "What kind of problems?".

"He's been attacking all the other kits in the nursery" Starlingsong sighed, "Whenever someone tries to play or talk with him, Poplarkit only gets angry."

What an odd kit, Bluepaw wondered why he would do such a thing? She knew Poplarkit when he was just born, he was the sweetest little thing in the world.

Looking at the angered kit, Bluepaw narrowed her eyes. She noticed his ear bent to the side, and every few moments he began to twitch.

"I think I might know whats wrong" she meowed, walking past Starlingsong and over to the distressed kit.

"Don't come any closer" Poplarkit warned, un-sheathing his tiny claws. But Bluepaw was quicker and pounced on the tiny kit, pinning him down so he couldn't move.

"What are you doing?" Starlingsong asked in shock, looking at Bluepaw crossly.

But Bluepaw didn't answer, she reached forward with a tiny claw into Poplarkit's ear, she had to be right! And then in a matter of seconds, Bluepaw felt something sharp come out.

"Oh my StarClan!" Starlingsong gasped, immediately darting to the object. It was a large thorn, perhaps even larger than a claw.

"That was lodged in his ear?" the Medicine Cat asked, examining a now very happy Poplarkit.

Bluepaw had never a kit so happy, as he covered her in licks and purred up a storm. Sedgeheart soon came and got her son after Starlingsong explained the problem.

"You did fabulous" Starlingsong mentioned, "Bluepaw you would make a great Medicine Cat."

"That's what I'm trying to tell everyone!" she instantly yelped, "But that old grump won't retire, why can't Dovestar just make him?".

Starlingsong _mrrowed_ in amusement, "First of all I don't think you can make a Medicine Cat retire, second of all even if you could, Jayfeather would fight back."

Bluepaw sighed, she knew that was true. But Jayfeather spent countless moons as ThunderClan's Medicine Cat, not to mention he already trained an apprentice.

Why couldn't he just pass the torch already and let Bluepaw become his apprentices apprentice?

"You know, there is one way I think we could convince him" Bluepaw instantly looked up at the tortoiseshell Medicine Cat. "You know Jayfeather is extremely close with StarClan?" Starlingsong paused as Bluepaw nodded.

"Well maybe if you can talk to one of them, then they can send a dream to Jayfeather telling him your meant to become a Medicine Cat!".

Instantly Bluepaw lifted her gaze, "That's a perfect idea!". Not only could she speak with StarClan whenever she wanted, but Bluepaw could also asked Yellowfang.

"Thanks Starlingsong" Bluepaw meowed as she raced out of the den, and towards the back of the camp. Hiding behind a large Rowan tree, Bluepaw lifted her gaze to the stars shining in the indigo sky.

_Please talk to me, _she pleaded silently, _I need your help._ Almost on exactly on cue, Bluepaw noticed a pelt appearing in the sky. It was a bright ginger tom, with a pelt the shade of burning flames.

"Hello Bluepaw" he meowed with a voice tinged with wisdom, "My name is Firestar, I was once leader of ThunderClan."

_Oh wow, _Bluepaw was actually speaking with the legendary Firestar?

"Please you have to convince Jayfeather to retire" she pleaded with a mew, "I'll do anything to be a Medicine Cat, anything!".

The image of the legendary leader in the sky chuckled, "I do apologize for my Grandson's stubbornness, I suppose he gets a bit of that from me".

She tried to smile, but Bluepaw just wanted a simple answer, could he help her or not?

"I'm sorry Bluepaw" Firestar finally meowed, "But your path is no to become a Medicine Cat, there are things bigger than you know happening at this very moment."

Bluepaw gaped, "Are you kidding me!? I'm a Zodiac, my only power is to speak with StarClan, and I can't become a Medicine Cat?". This was total Fox-Dung!

"I'm sorry, but there is something I must tell you before I leave. Time is off the essence." But Firestar simply stared at the apprentice, his eyes a ghostly shade of green.

And then he spoke in a tone so cold and eery, Bluepaw shivered.

_"When the Ice Moon rises, Eight will rage war against each other. And in the end, only four will be left standing. And these four will be the ones to bring an eternal peace to all clans.__"_

_

* * *

_**A/N: Uh-Oh, a prophecy? That doesn't sound good, I wonder what it means!? Oh wait..... Anyway I'm off to watch Family Guy on Hulu! Please vote and review!**

**~Leo~  
**


	13. Ten: Onyxvice

**A/N: Yay Chapter 10! Wow I've been doing pretty good with updates lately, although this one took me about an hour to write. Thanks for the reviews last chapter, you all help me get the courage to write! Ah well now you get to see Hollowpaw and Umberpaw, whatever is going on with those powers of theirs? **

**Well nonetheless here is Chapter X, oooh I just love writing in Roman Numerals. Hmm well after seeing a Pokemon Movie, I'm sort of inspired and excited to write a Pokemon Fanfic. What do you guys think about that? Should I eventually write one, or should I just stick to warriors? Hmm I'll let you all ponder that, oh yeah and there's another Poll on my profile, these apprentices need warrior names! Please take the time and REVIEW!**

**~Leo~**

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**CHAPTER X**

Bleak shadows crept into the apprentices den, casting long images onto Hollowpaw's dark brown pelt. She fidgeted in her mossy nest, not wanting to open her eyes to the world.

Hollowpaw just wanted to curl up and sleep for moons, she didn't want to face the reality only fox-lengths away.

_But I killed a cat, _she thought with a pang of guilt and remorse. Now Lizardfang was a jerk, but he most certainly didn't deserve to die.

_I didn't know what was going to happen, _she contradicted herself, _How was I supposed to know my power was to kill cats?_

It was hard enough explaining to herself what happened to Lizardfang, but explaining it to Scorchstar and Nettleclaw was even harder. She may have bent the truth a little, but if they knew she killed a fellow ShadowClan cat, then Scorchstar might banish her.

"Time for the Dawn Patrol" a voice came from her new mentor Redwillow, who poked his mottled brown head in.

Sighing Hollowpaw lifted herself up, and blinked as the rays of the Green-Leaf sun filtered through the surrounding Rowan Trees.

"Hey sleepy" Smokepaw teased as she ran her tail along Hollowpaw's pelt, "I bet you had a fun night."

Hollowpaw perked her ears, "What do you mean?". Smokepaw always was a bit of a weird cat, but Hollowpaw just thought that was from the time her mother dropped her on her head as a kit.

"You were mumbling in your sleep all night" the gray apprentice chuckled, "Lizardfang no, please don't leave me Lizardfang. You didn't like him did you?".

Her mouth gaped open in shock, Hollowpaw didn't know what to say. She obviously had been dreaming about her former mentors death, but it had already been half a moon!

Why was she lingering on it?

"I mean he was kind of handsome" Smokepaw mentioned as she curled her tail, "But that attitude was just to distasteful, I like a tom who respects me."

"Like Ryefoot?" Hollowpaw retorted, as the she-cat gasped. All of ShadowClan had known for awhile that something was going on between the two cats, but barely anyone actually talked about it.

"I don't like that flea-brain" Smokepaw scoffed as they padded outside the camp, "Ugh and what a stupid warrior name, Ryefoot. Couldn't Scorchstar have picked something more fitting? Like Ryepetal or Ryeflower, now that fits his personality!".

A lot of the she-cats in the clan had a reason to think Ryefoot was secretly a she-cat. For one he never looked at any of the she-cats in the clan, and for another reason he never had any interest in taking a mate.

"Maybe he just wants to be a warrior" Hollowpaw shrugged, "Just because a tom doesn't want to take a mate doesn't mean he's practically a she-cat."

Smokepaw chuffed, "Well think whatever you want, but I'm convinced Ryefoot likes toms, I mean look at the way he's always following Umberpaw around, If you ask me there's something going on there."

Hollowpaw flicked her tail so the she-cat would just shut up about it, just because Ryefoot wasn't interested in she-cats constantly didn't mean he liked toms.

Padding on through the morning forest, Hollowpaw noticed a sound trailing behind her. It sounded like tiny paw steps pattering the ground, was it prey? Perking her ears, Hollowpaw stopped.

"Shh" she could hear a tiny whisper come from the bushes, "She'll find us!".

Sighing Hollowpaw walked over to the bramble bush, and poked through the spiny burrs.

"Acornkit and Beetlekit" she scolded the two kits, "Why aren't you two back at camp? Don't you know its dangerous for kits to be out in the forest so young?".

These were Goldenheart's litter, she had only kitted a moon ago, but already the kits were adventurous.

"Go back to camp this instant!" she growled, as Beetlekit stepped a paw forward. Instantly their little eyes turned black, and Hollowpaw was thrust into a memory of Lizardfang.

"If you want us to" Acornkit echoed in a mindless voice, "Then we'll go back to camp."

At a loss for words, Hollowpaw could only watch as the little kits padded back to camp obediently, not even whispering a word to each other.

_My power! _Hollowpaw had used it again! But it hadn't killed anyone this time, the kits just simply did as she said. So perhaps Hollowpaw could use her power for good after all!

She didn't have to be evil, did she? Umberpaw had told her last moon what Scorchstar and Scarletshine had said, but he could very well be the evil one!

_Darkness is always associated with evil,_ Hollowpaw snorted, _So maybe he's the evil one, not me!_ But a deep sense of worry soon filled Hollowpaw's mind and thoughts, she was the one that killed a cat, not Umberpaw.

And all her life Hollowpaw was raised to think that murderers were evil, and by ShadowClan standards, she was an evil cat.

* * *

Umberpaw trailed along the shadows of night, his eyes set on a shape in the distance. An owl hooted in a nearby Oak Tree, the sound making the apprentice flinch.

A bit scared and jumpy, Umberpaw looked at the dark trees surrounding him. He wasn't scared of the darkness was he? For StarClan's sake that would be a bit ironic, after all Umberpaw was practically darkness himself, his whole power revolved around the dark!

_Shut up,_ he told himself briskly, _keep your eyes on Hollowpaw._

He had been trailing his sister ever since she left camp, Umberpaw knew Lizardfang just didn't fall out of a tree like she had said. A warrior like Lizardfang wouldn't have just fallen out of a tree, he would have had to been pushed, or something.

Looking forward up a small long fallen from the previous storm, Umberpaw noticed his sister's form had vanished. Where did she go?

"You little runt!" a yowl came out of the shadows and Umberpaw widened his eyes as he saw a very angry Hollowpaw flying towards him.

"Don't hurt me..." he trailed off as his sister bowled into his pitch black shape, rolling him into the moonlight where his pelt became visible.

"Oww" Umberpaw meowed like an injured kit, "Your made me tread on a thistle!".

His sister glared in anger, "Well you deserve it. You know I'm really getting sick of you doing what ever you want with your power Umberpaw. Its really immature."

"Immature?" Umberpaw echoed as he stood up from the ground, "Your calling me immature? I'd rather be immature than a murderer!". His words froze Hollowpaw like an ice storm, and for a moment the young tom wondered if his sister would attack again.

"What did you just say?" Hollowpaw growled, pronouncing her words slowly for more emphasis.

Umberpaw backed away slowly, his small body only a fraction of his sisters large muscular frame.

"I said you're a murderer!" he hissed though this time with a tinge of fright. "I know Lizardfang didn't just fall out of that tree, you did something to him! You made him fall from there" Umberpaw just had to be right, his sister was the evil one!

"Your right" she howled like a wolf, "He was treating me like fox-dung and saying Zodiac's were nothing but evil sent from the Dark Forest. I got angry, angrier than I'd ever been in my life! And then I said something like Why don't you just jump off a tree? And then he did Umberpaw, Lizardfang killed himself!".

She panted while getting caught up in the moment, her amber eyes watering from the memories.

Umberpaw gasped in shock, "How could he just kill himself?! Are you saying you told him to jump out a tree and he just listened? That's insane Hollowpaw, it doesn't make sense!".

Was his sister actually finally telling him the truth? Or was this just another lie to cover up what she actually did!

"I know its crazy" his sister snapped, "But Its true Umberpaw, and I did it again too!".

His eyes widened in terror, Hollowpaw murdered someone else!

"I didn't kill anyone if thats what your thinking" she eyed him up and down. "Acornkit and Beetlekit were following me on the Dawn Patrol this morning, and I ordered them to go back to camp. Their eyes turned black Umberpaw, and without even a word they walked back to camp. Kits never just walked back to camp!".

Umberpaw had to admit, his sister was right. But it still made no sense at all, could this be Hollowpaw's power? She continued to look out into the darkness for awhile, until finally she turned away from her brother.

"I'm going back to camp" Hollowpaw began to walk into the darkness, "And if you even think about following me, don't! I'll pin you down faster than you can say Acorn".

And with that the distraught apprentice went back to camp, her scent tinged with fear and anger.

Umberpaw sat among the dried grass, staring up at the moon in the sky._ Only three moons until Leaf-Bare,_ he thought with a sense of fright. And if what StarClan told the Medicine Cats was correct, then four of the Zodiac's were going to be dead by the first moon.

But something bothered Umberpaw, why would StarClan give eight cats powers? Wasn't it evil to already decide four of the cats fates without even giving them a chance?

_Maybe we can decide our fate, _his pitch black eyes reflected the moonlight. _Maybe I can change the outcome of what StarClan already planned._

Deep down Umberpaw knew he would have to have a power stronger than just disappearing in darkness. Challenging the will of StarClan wasn't an easy thing.

But nonetheless,_ Umberpaw was going to try. _

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_**A/N: All apprentices trying to defy the will of StarClan, don't you just love it? Hmm maybe not, but nonetheless go to my profile this instant and vote for Hollowpaw and Umberpaw's warrior names! Since you all liked my little A/N yesterday, I am now off to watch Eastwick and or Modern Family on Hulu. Goodbye :)**

**~Leo~  
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	14. Eleven: Flashfall

**A/N: Update yay! Wow I'm doing pretty well so far with NaNo aren't I? I have about 20,700 words done, almost half way there! This is a shorter chapter than usual, but yet another power is revealed. So do you think any of you guess what Ferretpaw's power is? I think one or two of you did. Let me just say that this might not be the last power to be revealed, someone still needs another. But who? **

**So I'm gonna put up another poll for these two warrior names, although I did already decide on Ferretpaw's, I love it! But I'm also wondering if I should do a Pokemon fanfic? Would you guys like that? Okay small pole at the bottom! Oh and I'm going to start saying something new at the A/N's from now on. **

**~Leo~**

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****CHAPTER XI**

Angry barks sounded from the opposite side of the Rock Wall. Ferretpaw could tell that the dog was trying to leap over the earth, but was utterly failing.

"Dog's really are stupid" he snorted while turning to Sprucepaw, "Don't you think so?".

The brown apprentice heightened her gaze, "Not really, No. If you knew how much he loved his twoleg's then you'd understand why he was trying to protect them. Its like Queens trying to protect their kits."

Ferretpaw gaped in shock, "You're seriously comparing Dog's and Queens? Sprucepaw that's just plain stupid!". In Ferretpaw's opinion, if an animal loved a Twoleg that much, then they were either incredibly insane, or just stupid.

"Hey do you hear that?" Sprucepaw perked her ears, and flicked her tail to the RiverClan border.

Confused, Ferretpaw did the same, listening with his light cream-furred ears. He could faintly hear the sounds of snarling and fighting in the distance, cats were fighting!

"The Patrol" he breathed, "They must have encountered RiverClan cats, we have to hurry!".

Without even waiting for Sprucepaw to follow, Ferretpaw bounded up the crevice they were cornered in and onto the green grass. Trees were scattered in front of him, Ferretpaw had to keep his mind focused in order to avoid them.

_Those stupid River Rats, _he snarled silently. Did they really have the nerve to attack WindClan on their own border? There could be no other explanation, the WindClan patrol most certainly didn't cross it.

Coming to a stop at a large hill, Ferretpaw gasped as his eyes lay on the sight before him. In between two small rivers near the RiverClan territory, hordes of cats were fighting ruthlessly.

Fur and blood already scattered the ground, and it looked like RiverClan was winning.

"They started a battle!" he gasped as Sprucepaw joined him, her green eyes wide open.

_I have to do something,_ Ferretpaw could feel his muscles tightening. The cream and brown tom spotted his father Ravenpelt amongst the fighting pelts, what if he got hurt!?

"Spottedpaw and Branchpaw" his brother and sister were fighting as well, in fact Ferretpaw could see a large RiverClan warrior pinning his sister down at this very moment.

"I have to get to them" he looked down below the rocky mound.

"But you can't make it down there" Sprucepaw reasoned, "We have to find a way to go around."

Spottedpaw could be dead by then, and Ferretpaw couldn't take that risk. A rush of adrenaline seemed to spike in the young toms blood stream, he felt an energy flowing through his veins.

Ferretpaw had never felt this way before, he felt like he could take on the entire clan of RiverClan! And then all at once, Ferretpaw bunched his muscles and leapt off of the hill.

Air blew through his striped coat, and in a matter of seconds Ferretpaw was standing next to Spottedpaw. She turned in surprise at her brother being next to her, he got there quicker than a flash of lightning.

_Lightning, _Ferretpaw thought with exasperation. The lightning bolt on his ear, Ferretpaw had a clue to what his power was this whole time!

"Get off of her!" Ferretpaw rammed into the warrior Grassfoot, knocking him a few fox-lengths away.

Making sure his sister was okay, Ferretpaw now spotted Horizonpaw cornered between two RiverClan warriors. Faster than he could blink, Ferretpaw was standing in one of the tallest trees of the forest, right above the WindClan apprentice.

Jumping down, the tom bowled into the two warriors, streaking between them swifter than a jack rabbit.

"How did you do that?" Horizonpaw echoed in awe as he rose his golden body.

Ferretpaw for once couldn't answer the toms question, he didn't know the answer himself. But Ferretpaw knew one thing, he finally had a power of his own, he was finally a true Zodiac! And now that Ferretpaw knew what his power was, he was going to use it.

With a gleam in his hazel eyes, Ferretpaw raced away to test out his new power on all the unsuspecting RiverClan warriors.

* * *

"Woah" Sprucepaw gasped in astoundment as Ferretpaw streaked through the open sky.

She could faintly making out the blurr of the young tom, darting from warrior to warrior. Sprucepaw sighed, it looked like Ferretpaw had finally found his power.

She was never going to hear the end of this now.

Calmly padding alongside the rocky ledge, Sprucepaw jumped a fox-length to make it onto the smooth grassland. She was in absolutely no hurry to fight, Sprucepaw hated fighting.

It was a mindless thing to do, especially for cats that were trying to survive in the same forest.

_Why fight if we a share a common need?_ Fighting only caused injuries and death, and did that help the clans?

"No" Sprucepaw answered out loud, as she padded closer to the battle.

Off to the side of the RiverClan border, Sprucepaw noticed a shiny gray she-cat sitting on the ground. For some reason the brown apprentice felt drawn to the she-cat, and before she knew it was padding over to her.

"Hi" Sprucepaw meowed nicely, sitting down next to the RiverClan apprentice.

"Hi" the cat meowed in response, turning calmly to look at the WindClan she-cat. For a moment neither said a word, and both looked forward onto the raging battle.

"Are you a Zodiac?" the shiny cat finally asked, looking at Sprucepaw with a great interest.

Her mouth hanging open in disillusion, Sprucepaw nodded. She held out her front paw, clearly showing the Leaf Symbol marked in white fur right around her pad.

"Cool" the cat mrrowed, "My name's Otterpaw, I'm a Zodiac too."

Sprucepaw felt a burst of excitement, she finally met another Zodiac! And how cool was it that the only other Zodiac she met had a personality just like herself!

Otterpaw turned away for a moment, and beckoned for Sprucepaw to follow. The blue-gray cat stopped next to a small puddle of water, and dipped her paw into it.

Almost instantly her pale blue eyes turned into astounding bright silvery-blue shard like orbs.

"That's amazing" Sprucepaw gasped, "Do you have a power?".

"Of course!" Otterpaw meowed loudly, "I can swim like a fish, I can even hold my breath underwater. My friend Rushpaw is the other Zodiac, but he doesn't really like his power. Now that I think about it Rushpaw doesn't really like anything."

The riverClan she-cat continued to ramble, until finally she asked what Sprucepaw's power was.

"I can hear other animals thoughts" she told the apprentice as she sat down.

"Really?" Otterpaw echoed, "That's awesome, I wish I could do that."

Chuckling from a tinge of embarrassment, Sprucepaw told Otterpaw about her new power as well, to control earth.

"No fair, I only have one power!" Otterpaw whined, "Well I can see why your mother named your Sprucepaw, you're so connected to the earth."

Sprucepaw nodded, her mother Sweetmallow did in fact name her after the leaf on her paw, although it looked nothing like a spruce. As the battle continued to happen, the two she-cats sighed.

"Why can't they ever just get along?" Otterpaw asked sadly, "There's already so many dangers in the forest, we don't need to make any more enemies."

Sprucepaw felt exactly the same way, "Maybe that's why we're here. My Medicine Cat Kestrelflight said four of the Zodiac's will one day bring peace to the clans."

Otterpaw turned with a look in her bright teal eyes, "But will we be part of the four?".

Taken aback by the question, Sprucepaw honestly didn't know an answer to it. She hoped she and Otterpaw were part of the four who would help bring peace, but she might not be.

Suddenly a bitter scent soon filled the air, and for a moment Sprucepaw just thought she was imagining it. But then a gray wisp soon wreathed through the open sky, and as she turned Sprucepaw spotted Sedgewhisker running towards the battle.

Cats stopped on either sides, staring at the smoke filling the air. As the light brown tabby made it to where the leaders stood, she panted.

"What is it?" Thistlestar asked in alarm, "What's wrong?".

Sedgewhisker bent her head to catch her breath, then solemnly lifted it. "Its the Zodiac of ThunderClan" she panted, "He started a fire in WindClan territory,_ he's trying to kill us." _

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_**A/N: For my next story which type should I do? (Probably come sometime in December, or January)  
**

**1.) Yet another Warrior's story**

**2.) Seekers story**

**3.) Pokemon Fic**

**4.) Saw fic  
**


	15. Twelve: Wavecrash

**A/N: Yay Chapter 12 of Zodiac, plus updates of SOC and AOLS. Not to mention my new short story, 13 Spirits which did I mention is really short? Ha I am so sick of writing A/N's right now, its not even funny. But nonetheless I am writing one for all of you fans who love Zodiac, I can't believe how many of you there are. **

**Anyway please review, it would be awesome If I could reach 200, maybe even a double update tomorrow! New poll up for Otterpaw and Rushpaw's full names, please check it out. Enjoy the chappy and check out my other updates. **

**~Leo~**

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****CHAPTER XII**

Instantly knowing what she had to do, Otterpaw raced away towards the lake. The only enemy of fire was Water, and she certainly was the master of water.

This could be a reason to bring peace among the clans, if Otterpaw burnt the fire out, then that would stop the fighting between RiverClan and WindClan. Bounding along the mounds of dried grassland, Otterpaw could see the fire raging through WindClan camp. The smoke drifted into the air like hordes of gray birds, and swirled like death.

Did the ThunderClan Zodiac do this on purpose?

This wasn't going to help bring peace if a Zodiac just burnt down other clans homes whenever they felt like it. But for some reason Otterpaw felt like this was a mistake, and she needed to fix it.

Diving into the cool water, Otterpaw instantly shot towards the bottom. It soothed her scorching fur, and for a second Otterpaw pondered staying down here.

_But cats could die if I don't do anything,_ and Otterpaw couldn't and wouldn't let that happen. Blazing through the underwater like the fire above, the Zodiac headed towards the WindClan shore. She could see the smoke above the waters surface, the fire was growing.

Closing her sapphire eyes as she neared the edge of the lake, Otterpaw dove back under towards the Lake Bed. Hopefully if Otterpaw knew what she was doing, than this would work.

She had heard how the WindClan camp was built like a scoop taken out of the earth. And if thats was where the fire was burning, then she could simply fill it with water, and then drain it.

Focusing her mind on the cool aqua water around her, Otterpaw prepared herself to do what needed to be done. And then in an instant, she shot through the entire height of the lake, and came flying out of the water. Waves of the lake came crashing behind her, as Otterpaw summoned it to follow.

The lake water drenched the scorched grass as she neared the WindClan camp, and with a flick of her tail, the rushing water poured across the fire.

A sizzling sound came as the cool water put out the burning fire, steam rising into the air instead of smoke. The water poured into the WindClan camp, eliminating any fire whatsoever.

"I did it" Otterpaw meowed with a sigh, she put out the fire.

But then the apprentice spotted two kits struggling in the water, and instantly dove forward. They were still coughing from the smoke they inhaled, and as she tread through the water,

Otterpaw made sure their tiny heads stayed above the surface. Otterpaw spotted a cat who must have been their mother pacing at the shore.

"Here" Otterpaw gurgled from the water she was swallowing, handing the two kits to their mother.

Expecting at least a thank you or something else, Otterpaw smiled at the queen. But instead the queen took her kits hastily, and with a snarl she clawed at Otterpaw.

"You freak!" the queen snarled with utter anger, "You destroyed our camp, you made it a lake!".

Still cornered in the water by the angry WindClan cats, Otterpaw was taken aback.

"But I put out the fire, I saved your camp!" couldn't they see all the good she had done?

"You made our came a lake!" Waspfur snarled, "A lot of good putting out the fire did when we can't even use our dens." Otterpaw bent her head as all cats turned their angry gazes to her.

"But I can drain it!" she yowled desperately, "Can't you see I was only trying to help?".

Why were they being so mean to her? If it wasn't for Otterpaw their camp would be nothing but dead grass by now!

"All I can see is a freak who destroyed my home" the queen growled at Otterpaw, as cats began to walk away to check on the injured.

As she floated in the calm water of WindClan camp, Otterpaw realized something. Maybe what she was trying to do this whole time couldn't be fixed at all. Maybe the clans can never have peace.

And if that was the truth, then why were the Zodiac's here?

* * *

"Ow that hurts!" Pondripple hissed, as Rushpaw treated her injury. The gray warrior had torn open her pad in the process of fighting, and now wouldn't even let Rushpaw treat it.

"If you stay still than it wouldn't hurt!" he growled, seeing the light red aura reflecting from her.

Rushpaw had learned the word Aura when he visited StarClan in a dream, they said it was a light coming from cats and the color determined their emotions.

And right now without even looking, Rushpaw knew that every cat entering the Medicine Cats den was red.

"Why do we have to treat WindClan?" Rushpaw snorted as Petalfur helped the WindClan apprentice Moorpaw into the Medicine den.

"Because it would be wrong to not help" Whiteleopard replied as she applied cobwebs to a cats wound.

Shaking his head, Rushpaw preceded to apply tansy to the bleeding pad of Pondripple. His mind wandering back to Otterpaw, Rushpaw wondered where his friend was.

She hadn't been here getting treated for any injuries so that was a good thing, but then where was she?

"Whiteleopard!" an urgent yowl came from outside the den.

Finishing up the gray she-cats injury, Rushpaw followed his mentor. The senior warrior Robinclaw was standing with a worried look on his face, his tortoiseshell and white fur stood up on all ends.

"It's Copperpool" he meowed urgently as Whiteleopard joined her apprentice, "Her bellies been sliced open."

"Oh no" Whiteleopard gasped, Robinclaw's sister was expecting kits!

_Not Copperpool,_ she was Rushpaw's aunt!

Rushing over to the ginger she-cat, Rushpaw almost fainted from the sight before him. Her belly large from the kits she was carrying, Copperpool was sprawled out on the ground, blood rushing from her stomach wound.

"Will the kits be okay?" Rushpaw asked worriedly, they were his kin.

The black and white she-cat bent down to examined Copperpool.

"The kits aren't our main priority" she told him swiftly, "If we have to make a choice then we save Copperpool, its a life or death situation."

Rushpaw's belly tightened as he stared at the gurgling queen, she was choking on her own blood. But how did you repair an injury like this? Even all the cobwebs in the world couldn't help Copperpool.

"Wh...Whiteleopard" the dieing queen meowed the Medicine Cats name.

"What is it?" she asked soothingly, pressing her tail against Copperpool's head to calm her.

Copperpool looked down at her belly wound, her golden eyes blinking slowly, "Save my kits" her voice was nothing but a whisper, "Please...Save my kits."

Rushpaw felt like he was going to throw up, if they saved her kits then Copperpool would die! Hearing loud paw steps on the ground, Rushpaw looked up to see Copperpool's mate Grassfoot bounding towards her.

"No..Oh please StarClan no" he stopped frozen by the sight of his mate, "Copperpool...".

Dieing from blood loss, Copperpool was barely able to look up at her mate.

"Grassfoot" she sighed happily, "Grassfoot take good care of our kits, I'll...always be watching over you all." The last part of her sentence was cut off as more blood came from her mouth, and then Copperpool's golden eyes became clouded.

"Save the kits!" the gray father demanded Whiteleopard, as she pressed into Copperpool's stomach.

And that was when Rushpaw closed his eyes in horror as his mentor pulled the kits from their mothers dead body.

_This isn't happening! _He shut his eyes harder than a vice, as tiny squeals filled the air. It was a few moments before everything became silent, and carefully Rushpaw opened one eye lid.

There next to him lay three tiny kits, all surrounded by a wondrous bright blue light.

"They're alive" he gasped in shock as Whiteleopard cleaned them up, their fur fluffy and warm now.

All of this pain had been suffered by Copperpool, but look what she gave up in the long run. Three beautiful, healthy kits were born, and they would carry on their mothers legacy.

_I won't have anyone to carry on my legacy, _Rushpaw meowed silently.

He had always wanted kits, but now that he was a Medicine Cat apprentice, that was impossible. Maybe someday he could become a warrior if Whiteleopard let him, but the Full-Moon of Leaf-Bare was slowly approaching.

Would Rushpaw even have a chance to disobey the Warrior Code? _What if he was dead by then?_


	16. Thirteen: Rapidblaze

**A/N: My nightly update for Zodiac is now here! Ha I am so about to write a Natural Disaster fic for warriors now, I just got back from 2012, so epic! I was tempted to see The Box or The Fourth Kind instead though because it was over 150 minutes long. Maybe I should have seen Saw VI again. Anyway here's Chapter 13! Charredpaw and Bluepaw time! I'm not going to say much tonight because there's not really much to say. **

**But I promise by Chapter 18 you'll know these two's full names, and so on with the others. Oh yeah there are 28 chapters and an epilogue to this fic, just letting you know. Please drop a review! **

**~Leo~**

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****CHAPTER XIII**

Charredpaw looked on in horror as the burning fire raged across WindClan territory.

_Oh no,_ had he just destroyed a clans home? What was Charredpaw going to do now, the clans would think he did it on purpose! There was only one cat who could help him in this type of situation, _Dovestar._

Praying to StarClan that no one was injured in the fire, Charredpaw turned completely around and raced back to ThunderClan camp. Everything had happened so fast, Charredpaw almost thought he was dreaming it seemed so surreal.

"Why do I have a power if I can't control it?" Charredpaw cursed that stupid power, he shouldn't have been given it if he couldn't control it!

_But maybe I can, _he thought suddenly, _Maybe I just need to keep working at it. _But how many more clan camps were going to burn down before Charredpaw mastered it? Rowan and Ash trees streamed by as Charredpaw bolted through his territory, the Thorn-Tunnel finally coming into sight.

"What's wrong Charredpaw?" the guard on duty, Kestreltail, asked as the apprentice bounded towards him.

"Fire, WindClan camp" he gasped, pushing past the golden tom and rushing into the camp.

Inside the safety of his own home, Charredpaw suddenly felt safe, everything would work out in the end. But what if Dovestar didn't believe him? _No, _he snapped at himself, _She has to she's my clan leader!_

"Dovestar" he meowed urgently, entering the leaders den without permission.

The fluffy gray she-cat lay at the back of the cavern, her head hidden in the shadows. "Charredpaw?" she asked while seeming to sense his emotions, "What's wrong are you okay?".

Trying to catch his breath while trying to explain what happened at, at the same time wasn't an easy thing. Finally getting a grasp on himself, Charredpaw looked his leader in the eye.

"I was trying to learn how to use my power like StarClan said" he began urgently, "There was still some fire by the Moon Pool and I began to move it. Everything was going great until a breeze blew the fire and it got out of control. I lit WindClan camp on fire Dovestar, I destroyed their home!".

The gray she-cats pale golden eyes widened in shock, as she tried to calm Charredpaw.

"Shh" she meowed while nudging him, "Everything's going to be okay, we'll sort this out somehow."

"How?" he asked swiftly.

After all he had lit another clans camp on fire, they weren't just going to let that happen then do nothing about it! What if WindClan started a war against ThunderClan?

"Dovestar" a meow came from Charredpaw's father Burntpelt as he entered the den. "Its Thistlestar, he and a patrol are asking to speak to you. They said its urgent" Burntpelt explained, giving his son an odd look.

_Oh no,_ Charredpaw gasped silently. They were here to make him pay for what he did to their camp! What if they tried to kidnap him?

"Don't worry" Dovestar flicked her tail as she exited her den, "I'll sort this matter out."

And with that, the leader of ThunderClan padded out into the intense sunlight to meet the leader of WindClan. Thistlestar stood next to the Thorn-Tunnel, his long furred white pelt hanging over his large muscles.

Behind him was a patrol consisting of Waspfur, Sunstrike, Ravenpelt and Beetlewhisker.

"Thistlestar" Dovestar bowed her head as she joined the leader, "We need to talk."

The long-furred tom snarled, "You're certainly right we need to talk, to you know what that apprentice of yours did to my clans home? Its burnt to a crisp now! Cats could have died Dovestar!".

Calmly the leader rose her tail for silence, as she opened her golden eyes.

"It was an accident Thistlestar. Charredpaw was trying to practice his power near the Moon Pool, it got out of control and spread into your clan territory" her eyes held sincerity.

"I can assure you we meant no harm to WindClan, it was all a big mistake."

The cats growled and snarled at Dovestar's comment, Sunstrike bunching her muscles as if she were about to attack. But Dovestar had muscle as well, Burntpelt, Redlion and Leopardfang crowded around her protectively.

"There will be no fighting in my camp" the gray she-cat glared at her warriors, as Thistlestar made Sunstrike back down.

Charredpaw looked from the rocky ledge he was standing on, as Thistlestar glared in his direction.

"Today enough cats have suffered" Thistlestar meowed firmly, "But I promise your Dovestar, I will get revenge for whats been done." And as he turned away, a spark lit in his bright green eyes.

"I have Zodiacs of my own, and they hold more power than you can even imagine." And with that, the leader summoned his patrol to leave ThunderClan camp, disappearing through the Thorn-Tunnel.

"How dare he threaten us!" a riled up Redlion yowled, as Crimsonrise and Morningwillow agreed.

But a few angry gazes turned to Charredpaw, and he knew exactly what they were thinking. Charredpaw could have just very well started a war between two clans.

And not only a war between the clans, but between the Zodiac's as well.

* * *

Fluffy clouds drifted across the blue dappled sky, as Bluepaw sat underneath a Fir Tree. ThunderClan had been riled up practically the entire day, all thanks to Charredpaw. The apprentice felt a sense of hurt for the young tom, he was only trying to master his power after all, a bit like Bluepaw.

But what was there to master about talking to StarClan?

"Unless..." Bluepaw trailed off as an idea sparked in her mind.

_Unless I have another power!_ StarClan never said a Zodiac was only to be given one power, what if she had a mighty power like Charredpaw did?

_But I don't want to be a powerful cat,_ Bluepaw lowered her suddenly saddened gaze._ I want to help my clan and become a Medicine Cat._ But that certainly wasn't going to happen any time soon, unless Jayfeather finally retired, or croaked.

_Don't think that! _She scolded herself for thinking ill of the old cat, but it was true in a way, things would be better if Jayfeather wasn't Medicine Cat anymore.

"Hey Bluepaw" the apprentice looked up to see her brother Timberpaw standing over her with a shrew.

"Hi" she groaned, plopping her shiny head onto her paws.

Timberpaw scrunched his face in confusion, and bent down to sit next to his sister. Bluepaw and her siblings were never particularly close, especially her and Heatherpaw. Bluepaw wanted to help her clan and dedicate herself to only that, no mate or kits.

But Heatherpaw on the other hand wanted to be a queen the day she earned her warrior name. In fact she already had a mate picked out, Sandpaw. The two had promised to be mates since they were a moon old, although most thought they would grow out of the phase.

"If StarClan wanted Jayfeather to retire" Timberpaw meowed as he bit into the shrew, "Then they'd have him retire. Obviously there's something keeping him as Medicine Cat, or else he'd let you be an apprentice."

"Yeah" Bluepaw snorted, "It's called his attitude."

Jayfeather must have had one of the most sour attitudes in the history of the clans. Not even the grumpy Rosepetal held a flame to Jayfeather, or the leader of ShadowClan for that matter!

As Alderfern walked by the two apprentices, Timberpaw immediately stared forward like a dumbstruck tortoise.

"Hello?" Bluepaw meowed to her brother, whose mouth was hanging open at the passing she-cat.

"Timberpaw!" she cuffed him over the ears, making him hiss in embarrassment. "For StarClan's sake could you be a little less discrete, it looked like you saw a cat mating with a porcupine!" Bluepaw rolled her eyes at the tom, toms were all alike.

"Who would want to mate with a porcupine?" Timberpaw asked seriously, squinting his face in confusion.

Honestly her brother wasn't the sharpest claw in the forest, far from it. As the day slowly went by, Bluepaw considered bounding up to Jayfeather and begging him to retire. But she had more dignity than that, at least Bluepaw thought she did.

"There's Starlingsong" Timberpaw who was half asleep meowed, "Why don't you go talk to her?".

The apprentice stood up and stretched, "I already have, she says I should ask StarClan to try and convince him and I already did! Nothing works!".

The dark brown tabby apprentice shrugged his large shoulders, "You never know, things change".

As she pondered her brothers idea, Bluepaw highly doubted it. Things rarely changed in ThunderClan, other than the fact that Charredpaw almost burnt down WindClan.

_You know what? _Bluepaw asked herself while puffing her chest out,_ I'm just going to demand that I be made a Medicine Cat. _She had no other choice. Swiftly padded over to the Medicine Cat's den, Bluepaw took a deep breath and entered.

"Starlingsong I demand I be made a Medicine Cat this instant!" the apprentice yowled as Starlingsong jumped a mouse-length. "Jayfeather's old enough to be a member of StarClan by now" she whined, "And I have to sit here day after day dreading the thought of becoming a warrior, while he sleeps in the forest doing nothing!".

Starlingsong rose her tail to talk, but Bluepaw simply kept going on.

"And I would be the best Medicine Cat in the entire world, what do you think my power is? But no, it all has to be wasted just so Jayfeather can be one before he dies!".

"Bluepaw!" the brown Medicine Cat meowed loudly, breaking the apprentice off from her rambling session.

Suddenly she felt embarrassed, that wasn't the way to talk to a Medicine Cat.

"You don't have to worry about that anymore" Starlingsong told her with a smile, "Jayfeather retired this morning." At first Bluepaw thought she had imagined what the she-cat had said, and had to ask again.

"I said Jayfeather retired!" the young she-cat meowed happily, "Dovestar made you my apprentice this morning, I was just going to tell you when you came in."

"Oh..." Bluepaw meowed quietly, to excited to feel bad about what she had said! This had to be a miracle sent from StarClan, Bluepaw was finally on the path she knew she was meant to be on!

_She was one step closer to her destiny!_

_

* * *

_**A/N: Who has the better power? Bluepaw or Charredpaw? ( I know tough decision, XD. Not!)**


	17. Fourteen: Stoneshoot

**A/N: Here's Chapter 14! So sorry I didn't update last night. By the time I finished this chapter it war like 10:00, so I just decided to wait until tonight to post. Anyway I'm going to say much today because I'm tired and have like six more author notes to write, so please review if you can! I hope you like it!**

**Oh and do you think I can reach 215 reviews?**

**~Leo~

* * *

**

**CHAPTER XIV**

Wheat and Barley spread out vastly in front of the WindClan cats, the Horse-Place wasn't to far ahead.

Ferretpaw looked out across the grassy moor as the sun set beneath the horizon, was this the last time he'd see his home? If it was just the fire that had destroyed WindClan camp, then the grass and shrubs would have grown back by New-Leaf.

But no, that stupid Zodiac Otterpaw had to drown their camp to make it look like a mini lake.

"You know its not her fault" Ferretpaw looked up to see Sprucepaw lounging on the grass.

The cream striped tom snorted, "Then whose fault is it Sprucepaw? We never asked her to drown our camp, WindClan could have sorted it out by ourselves."

The brown apprentice sighed and rolled her eyes. "Otterpaw was only trying to help, don't you see that? Would you have preferred if she just did nothing and let our camp burn to cinders?".

Ferretpaw jerked his head, "Yes I would, at least then we could live in it eventually."

And now where were they supposed to live? At the Horse-Place!? Oh yes that's the perfect place for kits to be raised and apprentices to be trained, just watch out for the horses!

"I still don't think everyone should blame her" Sprucepaw confessed as she tucked her paws underneath her small body, "I mean she was only trying to help, and everyone acts like she's some sort of a freak. We're Zodiac's too."

"I know we're Zodiac's" Ferretpaw snapped, "But we don't go around burning or drowning other clans homes, they did. I just think that they need to pay for what they did, especially Otterpaw."

Not another word came out of Sprucepaw, as she only turned and padded back to the traveling cats. Ferretpaw knew that his friend thought Otterpaw was trying to help, but she was only saying that because they were friends.

As the clan of WindClan soon made a temporary home near the fields of Twoleg Place, Thistlestar set guards up to watch for intruders. Not only were they close to WindClan territory, but dogs as well.

As indigo light illuminated the scattered clouds in the sky, Ferretpaw knew it was only a matter of time before night fell.

_And then I'm going to make that stupid cat pay for destroying my home, _Ferretpaw was going to travel to RiverClan tonight.

* * *

Like a diving falcon, Ferretpaw flashed through the dark moor, his cream and brown pelt nothing more than a blur. He loved the feeling of racing across open land, he felt free to do whatever he wanted.

And he was going to do what he wanted now, he was going to show Otterpaw that she can't just destroy a clans home and get away with it. Thistlestar may have been distracted with ThunderClan, but it was RiverClan who were the ones to pay.

Hiding behind a large Rowan Tree, Ferretpaw spotted the rivers surrounding RiverClan camp.

"Just my luck" he meowed with a hint of darkness, as his eyes lay upon a cat fishing in the stream.

_Otterpaw. _

What were the chances of her being only fox-lengths away from Ferretpaw? He was meant to seek revenge for WindClan. Bunching his muscles in the shadows, Ferretpaw streaked in a blur of cream fur and appeared right next to Otterpaw.

"Holy StarClan!" she shrieked, realizing Ferretpaw stood beside her. "What are you doing here?" Otterpaw looked at him inquisitively, "Is Sprucepaw here?".

Ferretpaw bared his fangs, "No she's not here! But I am so listen up!".

Instantly Otterpaw realized something was wrong, and eyed the flowing river next to her.

"You destroyed my camp and now you're going to pay for it!" letting the anger unleash itself, Ferretpaw dove forward like a flash at Otterpaw. But he only hit ground as the Zodiac dove into the rushing water, swimming underneath its surface.

_Well at least I know what her power is, _although this could cause problems for Ferretpaw.

But she couldn't stay down there forever, and when she did Ferretpaw was going to be there. Leaping into the air jumping from stone to stone, the apprentice could faintly see Otterpaw underneath the rushing water.

She as almost as fast as him, but no one in the whole forest could beat Ferretpaw in a race. And just at that moment Ferretpaw noticed Otterpaw surfacing only a fox-length away, and dove forward.

But the tom stopped mid-flight as a rock came shooting out of the ground, knocking him out instantly.

* * *

Seeing Ferretpaw's limb body on the ground, Sprucepaw instantly ran forward. She didn't mean to hurt him so bad, but he was going to attack Otterpaw!

She pressed a paw onto the cream-furred apprentices flank, and could faintly see his pelt rising up and down as he breathed.

"Thank StarClan" Sprucepaw breathed, "He's alive." At least Ferretpaw had blacked out for now, because if he was awake then he'd still most likely attack Otterpaw.

"It's safe" she called out towards the river, noticing a pair of ears peeking out of the waters surface.

Slowly Otterpaw looked up and saw Ferretpaw's body, and slowly exited the river.

"Thanks" she meowed, shaking her pelt of the droplets, "I thought he was going to kill me!".

Sprucepaw highly doubted Ferretpaw was capable of killing someone, he was most likely just looking for a fight. "He was just mad about the camp, although I don't know why everyone's blaming you. You were only trying to help!".

Otterpaw sighed, "Tell me about it. One of the queens in your clan almost bit my head off when I saved her kit. She called me a freak."

"That would be Yellowpoppy" Sprucepaw lowered her head, "And I really am sorry about all of this, maybe I can convince Thistlestar to stop blaming RiverClan."

Although her leader was more preoccupied with the ones who started the fire in the first place, ThunderClan.

"And I can drain it back into the lake, I tried actually but your deputy Sunstrike wouldn't let me anywhere near the camp" Otterpaw's gaze held guilt and depression, "I just want everything to go back to normal."

Sprucepaw felt exactly the same way, "I'll tell Thistlestar that, I'm sure he'll understand. But there's something else that trouble's me." Actually it had been troubling Sprucepaw ever since Kestrelflight told her about the prophecy StarClan sent the four Medicine Cats moons ago.

"When we were born, StarClan contacted each Medicine Cat. They said that by the first moon of Leaf-Bare, four of us will be dead." The prophecy still sent chills down the brown she-cats spine, and she could tell Otterpaw was disturbed by it as well.

The gray-blue cat shifted her paws, "But do you really think its true? I mean will four of us really be dead in three-moons?".

Honestly Sprucepaw didn't know how to answer her question, if StarClan saw it happening then it most likely was true.

"And if it is true then we have to at least meet each other, all eight of the Zodiac's need to meet" her muscles suddenly tingled with excitement, "We need to meet soon."

"But how?" Otterpaw meowed as she looked down at her tail.

"ThunderClan and WindClan hate each other. Most of your clan hates me, not to mention ShadowClan doesn't even talk with anyone anymore. How do we get each clan to meet each other?".

Sprucepaw already knew the answer. She had been thinking about this for a long time now, and had foreseen something bad like this happening to the clans.

"You can go to ShadowClan because your the closest. I think the Zodiac's names are Umberpaw and Hollowpaw, you just need to tell them when and where we're meeting."

Otterpaw perked her shiny ears, "And where and when are we meeting?".

Sprucepaw pondered the she-cats question for a moment, then a thought clicked in her mind.

"Down by the lake in between RiverClan and WindClan territory, there's a crevice where we can meet in private. Tell them to be there by Midnight."

This absolutely had to work, and maybe if the Zodiac's actually knew each other and became friends, then they wouldn't end up killing each other after all.

_But how do I convince Ferretpaw to come?_

She already knew her friend hated ThunderClan and WindClan, but he also held a strong dislike for ShadowClan as well._ He'll just have to suck it up and come, _Sprucepaw told herself strongly, _I'll drag him there if it comes to it_.

"And where will you be going?" Otterpaw meowed as she dragged her paw through the still water.

Sprucepaw flicked her tail across the lake, "To ThunderClan. We may not be the most friendly clans to each other, but its for the good of the Zodiac's that we meet together."

She knew deep down that they could fix StarClan's will, this didn't need to happen. And as she gazed at the moonlit sky, Sprucepaw swore she saw eight stars burning brightly in the dark abyss.

_The Zodiac's were finally going to meet._

_

* * *

_**Which four Zodiac's should live? **

**1.) Charredpaw**

**2.) Bluepaw**

**3.) Hollowpaw**

**4.) Umberpaw**

**5.) Ferretpaw**

**6.) Sprucepaw**

**7.) Otterpaw**

**8.) Rushpaw  
**


	18. Fifteen: Shadowstalker

**A/N: So sorry for not updating last night or the night before, I needed a break. But here is Chapter 15 of Zodiac! Well I'm over half way done with this fic, thank StarClan. I've been working hard on my stories, which are really getting out of hand, I have way to many! Not only am I working on Zodiac, SOC and Age of Lost Souls. But also Terra: Blood Moon which will be posted on Tuesday, and Tigerstar's Redemption. **

**Tigerstar's Redemption is the Super Edition based off of 13 Spirits, its going to be awesome. But don't expect it to be posted until after Christmas, need to get my other stories done first. Well I hope you like it and I may double update tonight, so keep watch! please review!**

**~leo~**

**

* * *

****CHAPTER XV**

Hollowpaw lay gloomily on the opposite side of ShadowClan camp, her brown head resting on her small paws. It was a cloudy day, a welcomed change to the scorching hot days of Green-Leaf they had experienced.

But Green-Leaf had came and went swiftly, and now Leaf-Fall was washing over the forest. Even the leaves which were once bright green and abundant, were now flashes of golden and yellow.

"Battle training time" a meow came from Redwillow as he padded up to her.

"Okay" Hollowpaw heaved herself off the ground, suddenly feeling nervous.

But this wasn't Lizardstripe she was going to train with, it was Redwillow. And he was a highly respected senior warrior, so Hollowpaw had nothing to worry about!

Exiting the camp with her mentor, the brown apprentice noticed her brother glaring at her.

_What? _She snapped silently,_ He probably thinks I'm going to murder Redwillow too! _Couldn't Umberpaw just drop it already? He was acting immature!

Furze was scattered across the ground, their yellow petals dappled the ShadowClan territory for fox-lengths. Leaves crackled beneath Hollowpaw's feet as they reach the spot to battle train, and instantly her mottled-brown mentor turned to face her.

"Attack me" Redwillow meowed, flicking his tail for his apprentice to come forward.

Nodding, Hollowpaw honed her senses and bunched her muscles. She longed to use her power in this practice fight, but with the fate of her last mentor, she didn't want to take any chances.

The apprentice sprung forward through the air, but narrowly missed the senior warrior as he flipped underneath her, and came out onto the other side.

"Fox-dung" Hollowpaw swore as she lifted her paw up, "I trod on a thistle!".

"Here let me see" Redwillow moved forward to examine his paw, "It's fine, now come on show me what you've got. And this time don't hold back."

Pulling the thistle out of her pad, Hollowpaw scrunched her face. She was a strong cat, and since Redwillow hadn't seen that yet, she had to prove it now more than ever.

Not giving her mentor even a second to wonder what she was doing, Hollowpaw raced forward and kicked at his back paws, knocking the warrior off his feet.

Redwillow came crashing to the ground, his mottled brown pelt now covered in sand.

"Very good" he congratulated his apprentice, "Your quite a strong cat Hollowpaw, you just need to perfect your skills."

As the two trained for most of the day, Hollowpaw's belly began to growl from hunger. She hadn't even eaten this morning, well she was going to but then Redwillow dragged her out to practice.

"How about some hunting?" her mentor suggested, "Bring back three pieces of prey and you an have the biggest" his gaze held pride for his new apprentice.

Redwillow shared a bond with Hollowpaw, he had been the mentor to her father Grizzlyfur.

"Okay" Hollowpaw meowed as Redwillow went off to hunt for himself, finally she could eat.

Stalking off into the golden forest, the brown she-cat sniffed the air gingerly. The crisp scents of auburn leaves filled the air, along with the smell of honey from a bee hive only fox-lengths above her head.

Hollowpaw noticed a starling sitting on a branch only a fox-length away, but Starling's were far to fast to catch on the ground, or anywhere for that matter.

Suddenly a fishy scent filled the air. At first Hollowpaw thought it actually was fish, but she was nowhere near the lake! And then a thought came into the apprentices mind as she saw a shiny gray tail behind an ash tree,

_RiverClan!_

"Come our you stupid Otter!" she snapped, fury rose like a burning inferno inside Hollowpaw. How dare they trespass on her territory!

"I'm not here for trouble" the voice, a she-cats, meowed delicately. "I just want to talk" the cat meowed as she slowly backed out of the cover of the ash tree.

That was when Hollowpaw realized this was only an apprentice, probably no younger than herself.

"What are you doing here?" she growled, eying the RiverClan cat suspiciously. The cat was small, and her pelt was sleek and shiny like most RiverClan cats.

But something was different about this apprentice, something wasn't quite right with her eyes.

"You're a Zodiac?" the she-cat asked, as Hollowpaw looked at her incredulously.

Twitching her brown tail, Hollowpaw nodded. "How did you know?" Most of the other clans knew there were two Zodiac's in ShadowClan, but not many knew who they were.

"The eye symbol on the back of your ear" the cat flicked her tail to Hollowpaw's brown ear, "I have a symbol as well." The RiverClan cat blinked her azure eyes, they flickered like moonlight on the waves of the lake.

"I'm Otterpaw" the cat bowed her head in welcome, "And I'm here to tell you that a meeting is going to be held tomorrow at midnight. A meeting for all of the Zodiac's."

Hollowpaw perked her ears, she had never met a Zodiac before, well other than Umberpaw of course.

"What kind of meeting?" she asked with interest, as Otterpaw brightened at the question.

"Well I don't really know, Sprucepaw is going to handle all that. But basically we're going to see if we can change the path StarClan laid down for us, you know about the Omen don't you?".

She knew the omen all to well, Scarletshine often spoke about it during normal activities. But four out of the eight Zodiac's weren't going to die, surely there was a way to fix this!

"I'll come" Hollowpaw meowed without a second thought, "And I'll make sure the other Zodiac, my brother, comes too."

"Great!" Otterpaw beamed as she turned to leave, "We're meeting at the crevice by the lake, in between RiverClan and the Horseplace."

Hollowpaw nodded at the statement, "See you at midnight." She couldn't wait to meet the other Zodiac's, did any of them have a power like hers?

Hollowpaw could only wait and find out, and hopefully the Zodiac's didn't kill each other in the process.

* * *

Brambles scathed Umberpaw's pitch black pelt as he squeezed through a narrow opening. The briars and thorns curved like a lions claws, waiting to snag and tear at flesh.

Immediately he disappeared into the shadows, trailing along the trees for cover.

"I hope she's right about this" Umberpaw mumbled to himself.

He met a cat named Sprucepaw down by the lake who asked him to go to ThunderClan camp to speak with the Zodiac's. Apparently there was a meeting for all eight of the cats with powers down by the lake tomorrow at midnight.

And it was now Umberpaw's job to ask the two Zodiac's to come. But what if a patrol caught him? Umberpaw had no power to fight with, just to disappear into darkness with.

Nearing the jagged enclosure of the cats of ThunderClan, Umberpaw took extra caution and slinked to the ground. A beetle crawled across the ground, the black apprentice almost yelped in fright.

"I hate insects" he scoffed quietly, flicking the shiny pest away.

Up ahead a guard stood alert, it was one of the senior warriors, Briarstripe.

_Just my luck, _Umberpaw just had to come on the night one of the smartest and strongest warriors was standing guard. Taking a deep breath, the Zodiac quietly padded to the opposite direction Briarstripe was looking and headed towards a gape in the structure.

Weeds and Ivy trailed alongside the rock wall, silver moonlight running alongside the cracks in its surface. Umberpaw shivered as he saw spiders trailing along the stone, their long legs protruding like long spiny whiskers.

Poking his head in between the crevice, Umberpaw noticed a small cat gazing up at the moon. Her pelt was a sleek blue-gray color, and she appeared to be whispering to the stars.

His gaze lingered on a marking on the cats front paw, it looked like a crescent moon!

_She's a Zodiac, _he silently gasped. Maybe luck was on his side after all! Letting his guard down for a brief moment, Umberpaw almost screeched in surprise as he saw the cat staring directly at him.

Had she seen him? No how could she, Umberpaw was as dark as the shadows!

"You can come out now" she meowed quietly and calmly, turning back to look at the stars.

At first Umberpaw didn't respond, was this a trick? But then realizing the cat had in fact known he was there, Umberpaw padded into the moonlight.

"Sorry" he apologized to the she-cat, keeping his body hidden so no other cat would see.

The mysterious apprentice turned, "Are you a Zodiac?" she asked politely, giving Umberpaw an inquisitive look.

The black apprentice blinked his pitch black eyes, "Yes, and you are too, right?".

The cat nodded, "My name's Bluepaw, I'm one of the Zodiac's of ThunderClan."

Umberpaw tipped his head in greeting, "I'm Umberpaw, my sister Hollowpaw and I are the Zodiac's of ShadowClan."

Bluepaw was quite a mysterious cat, he wondered what her power was. Most likely something to do with the sky, she wouldn't stop staring at the stars!

"So what made you trespass on ThunderClan territory?" she asked without any sign of what she thought of Umberpaw.

"Umm..." he shuffled his paws, not knowing what to do. But then the ShadowClan tom remembered about the meeting, that was the whole reason he came!

"The Zodiac of WindClan wanted me to tell you we're holding a meeting for all of the Zodiac's tomorrow at Midnight." The she-cats interest seemed to perk, and she gazed at Umberpaw with her bright silver eyes.

"What kind of meeting, where?"

"Between RiverClan territory and the Horse-Place, you can just travel along the shore and you'll find the crevice. We're meeting because of the prophecy, do you kno..." he cut off as Bluepaw gazed anxiously at him.

"You think we can stop the prophecy from happening?" the hint of hope in her voice was almost undetectable.

"Well" Umberpaw looked down at the ground, "I don't know about that, but I think we should at least try. Don't you?". Even if there was a small chance of the omen being false, then the eight Zodiac's needed to find out.

"Okay I'll come" Bluepaw meowed as she turned back to the stars, "And I'll make sure Charredpaw comes as well."

Bowing his head at the ThunderClan apprentice, Umberpaw slunk back into the shadows and headed off towards ShadowClan territory. If indeed four out of the eight Zodiac's were going to die, Umberpaw could only wonder.

_Were he and Bluepaw going to be one of the ones left standing? _

_

* * *

_**A/N: If a certain cat was going to have kits? Who would it be? **

**1.) Sprucepaw**

**2.) Hollowpaw**

**3.) Otterpaw**

**4.) Bluepaw**

**I already know, but I just want to see who you think should.  
**


	19. Sixteen: Lightspiral

**A/N: Apologies for not updating sooner, been really busy lately. Here's Chapter 16, and I'd like to thank all of you for reviewing. You don't know how much it means to get so many reviews, and it keeps me on track with my writing! Well the Zodiacs finally get to meet, all eight of them. **

**I put some forshadowing of who will survive in this chapter, see if you can find it. Well anyway I saw New Moon last night, I'm not a big fan of twilight but it was okay. Dakota Fanning did better with the 2 minutes she had in the movie, then the others did the whole time. I really wanted to see Precious, but it was sold out :( Please review, update hopefully tomorrow!**

**~Leo~**

**

* * *

****CHAPTER 16**

_ "Come on lazy paws, we're going to be late!" _Otterpaw turned with a frustrated look painted on her face, why was Rushpaw so slow?

"We aren't going to be late" the gray and white apprentice hissed as he padded up to her. "It's not even Midnight yet, the Moon's barely in the sky!".

With a chuff, the shiny RiverClan she-cat trekked onwards, her pelt becoming dusky gray in the darkness. Leaves rustled as a cool wind swirled them up into the air, twirling almost as if they were alive.

Otterpaw glanced up at the overcast sky, at least they could see the moon to tell when Midnight came.

"Is that the crevice?" she looked forward to see Rushpaw sniffing a crack in the earth. A wall of dirt and stone was formed around it, so it almost appeared to be a cavern.

"This must be it" she declared with a contented sigh, "Look we're almost directly on the border between RiverClan and the Horse-Place!".

Overcome with excitement at meeting all the Zodiac's, Otterpaw almost wanted to jump out of her skin.

"Holy StarClan what's wrong with you?" a snort came from Rushpaw who was eyeing her like a rabid hare.

Giving her fur an embarrassed lick, Otterpaw didn't respond. Rushpaw just didn't understand the importance of an event like this, these eight cats could bring peace to the clans!

_But which of us will? _She asked silently into the darkness, _Only four of the Zodiac's will survive, what if I don't? _That's the whole reason they were meeting here though, StarClan didn't have to be right!

"You're anxious about something" Otterpaw looked up to see Rushpaw examining her. "I don't know if this is such a good idea. If all the Zodiac's are as powerful as I think we are" his gaze held a flicker of worry, "Then I don't think bringing us all together in one place is the best thing to do."

"I'm sick of you telling me how I feel" Otterpaw instantly retorted, avoiding the question at hand.

Every single moment of every day Rushpaw was telling her she was angry, sad, mad, depressed, even hungry! She couldn't take it anymore!

A pelt moving in the distance distracted Otterpaw from biting off Rushpaw's head, someone was coming!

"It's Hollowpaw and Umberpaw!" she squealed like a newborn kit.

"Wow" Rushpaw gasped sarcastically, "Let's make a huge deal about seeing two ShadowClan apprentices. Its so awesome right!?".

Blatantly ignoring her 'friends' comment, Otterpaw rushed forward to greet the two Zodiac's.

"Welcome!" the RiverClan cat bowed her heads to Hollowpaw, and her brother Umberpaw. Taking a look into the ShadowClan toms eyes, Otterpaw almost fainted.

"Your eyes!" she gasped, "They're completely...." she couldn't even finish the sentence.

Umberpaw flicked his ear, "Yup, completely black. I guess that's my symbol" his voice was tinged with embarrassment.

Oh no, had Otterpaw already made a fool out of herself?

"My eyes change colors too" she meowed quickly, "If I touch water than they turn the color of Sapphire's, want me to show you?". She moved forward to dip her paw into a puddle, but Umberpaw held up his paw for her to stop.

"That's quite alright" he meowed as he folded his paws and laid on the ground, "I'll take your word for it."

Time passed by slowly as the moon rose into the sky, and pretty soon Otterpaw began to doubt if the others would come! But then out of the shadows she spotted Sprucepaw padding swiftly and behind her followed Ferretpaw.

_Okay, _Otterpaw took a deep breath, _Now everything will be okay, as long as no one makes Ferretpaw angry._

"Well Finally" Rushpaw groaned loudly as the two WindClan cats joined them, "We've been waiting here for moons!".

_For StarClan's sake! _Otterpaw practically boxed her clan mate over the ears in front of the others.

"What did you say fish-breath?" Ferretpaw pretended he didn't hear the remark, and advanced slowly. Deep down she hoped Rushpaw would back down, but the Medicine Cat apprentice said whatever was on his mind.

"I said we've been waiting here forever, you'd think WindClan would be the first ones here!" he rolled his gray eyes slowly. Ferretpaw bared his fangs, as Rushpaw twisted his face in a smirk.

"Oh I see" his eyes held a look that only happened when Rushpaw was reading their aura, "Mommy wouldn't go to sleep until your pelt was groomed?".

Instantly Hollowpaw and Rushpaw broke out in laughter, as Ferretpaw seemed unsure of what to do. Once everyone had calmed down and introduced themselves, it was only a matter of time until the ThunderClan Zodiac's showed up.

These two Otterpaw had never met, although she didn't particularly want to meet the one that burnt down WindClan camp.

"This is Charredpaw" Sprucepaw introduced the ThunderClan tom, "And this is Bluepaw, she's a Medicine Cat apprentice."

Charredpaw was certainly a large enough cat, mostly all of him was muscle! And his eyes were such an intense shade of amber, they almost burnt like a fire!

"Hi Rushpaw" the Zodiac Bluepaw meowed softly, apparently the two knew each other from visits to the Moon-Pool.

"Hey" he responded unenthusiastically, rolling his eyes once more. At first Otterpaw thought everyone was getting along great, but then she noticed Ferretpaw advancing towards Charredpaw.

"You destroyed my home" he growled fiercely, his cream striped fur rising in anger.

The ginger apprentice turned, "I'm sorry about that, but it was an accident. I was only trying to learn how to use my power."

But apparently that wasn't good enough for the WindClan apprentice, as he un-sheathed his claws for a fight. With a sigh, Otterpaw noticed Hollowpaw padding up to Ferretpaw.

"Go back to Sprucepaw and be quiet" she whispered like wisps of smoke.

At first Otterpaw thought Ferretpaw would just attack her, but instead his eyes turned as black as Umberpaw's, and he padded back to Sprucepaw.

Even though they had prevented a fight from breaking out, the Zodiac's were already at each others throats! And how were they going to try and stop this prophecy from coming true if they all hated each other?

* * *

Batting a pebble across the ground, Rushpaw ignored the conversation that was currently taking place. He didn't realize when Otterpaw told him about this so called meeting, that it would be so boring, if he did then Rushpaw wouldn't even have come!

"What's your power?" Rushpaw looked up to see Hollowpaw staring eagerly at him.

Groaning, he pushed himself up to face the rest of the Zodiacs. What was he supposed to tell them, that he can read auras? Rushpaw didn't even know the extent his powers reached to begin with, let alone to explain them to random strangers.

"He can read cats auras!" Otterpaw exclaimed, as Rushpaw only glared.

"I can tell them myself, thanks" he kneaded the ground nervously, then rose his head. "I can tell what cats emotions are by seeing the aura around them" it probably sounded stupid compared to Charredpaw's power.

"What's an aura?" Umberpaw looked confused.

The Medicine Apprentice sighed, "It's a light that forms around a cat, the color changes depending on their emotions or how they are feeling."

Instantly a few cats including Sprucepaw and Hollowpaw looked interested.

"What's my aura say?" the brown WindClan she-cat asked, as Hollowpaw meowed eagerly behind her. Focusing his eyes on Sprucepaw, Rushpaw could see a yellow-green light around her.

"Your closely bound to the earth" he meowed, feeling the pull she felt to the forest and animals around them. "You feel like everyone around you is destroying what should be kept sacred, and all you want is peace."

The devotion she felt to the earth was astounding, Rushpaw never felt such a pull! Sprucepaw seemed equally as shocked, her green eyes rounded as she backed away.

"What about me?" the brown ShadowClan cat asked eagerly, sitting in front of Rushpaw.

Suddenly Rushpaw felt a draining feeling erupt from the she-cat, and the brown light around her wreathed like smoke spirals.

"You're feeling like a victim of the world" he meowed while becoming absorbed with Hollowpaw's emotions. "You blame yourself for something that was out of your control, but the lack of understanding of your ability leaves you lost in the darkness."

Rushpaw could see an image of a body falling from a tree, and crashing onto the ground like a large stone. He could also feel the darkness enveloping him, it was so powerful Rushpaw almost couldn't control it!

He could tell Hollowpaw was horrified as well, her eyes were bleak with terror from what he said.

"That's enough" Umberpaw interrupted Rushpaw's reading and stood in front of Hollowpaw protectively.

Suddenly Rushpaw realized what he had said, and shook his vision to see clearly. Hollowpaw was visibly upset by what the apprentice had said, but he only did what she asked him to.

"Rushpaw can also tell the future!" Otterpaw yelped, seeming more excited then anyone else.

_Will you just shut up? _He wanted to cuff her over the ears, why did Otterpaw always have to blurt out personal information?

"Read my future" a solemn meow came from the Zodiac Charredpaw. Looking into the massive toms burning eyes, Rushpaw suddenly felt intimidated.

"Well I can't really see the future, I can just see an image of something that will happen" they didn't expect him to tell them anything important did they?

But still Charredpaw walked forward to face Rushpaw, and he knew he had to at least try.

"Give me your paw" the Medicine Cat apprentice sighed, closing his eyes.

Charredpaw put his paw onto Rushpaw's, and he turned it over to look onto the dark gray pad. It was quite a difference from Rushpaw's snow white skin, and already he could feel heat coming from Charredpaw.

"Your whole body is burning" he meowed, astounded. How could a cat be so hot, did he have a fever?

"It's part of my power" Charredpaw reassured him, "I can control fire after all."

"Yeah, you try to" Ferretpaw snorted, as Sprucepaw growled at him to shut up.

Focusing once more on the tom, Rushpaw looked at his pure white pad. Slowly a distorted image began to appear, forming like tiny particles of sand.

"I see nine stars" Rushpaw meowed, suddenly realizing what they were. "Your going to be leader of your clan someday, you'll be given nine lives" that was if Charredpaw survived after all.

"Really?" he looked astounded, "Me? Leader?".

Rushpaw didn't want to shatter the toms moment of excitement as he also saw a skull appear on his pad, there was death in this cats future. As he gazed at the cats around him,

Rushpaw realized each of them were marked with the symbol of death. Fate still hadn't made up its mind yet, any of them could live or die at this moment.

"Hey look at Sprucepaw!" Otterpaw exclaimed loudly, "She's making a cave."

Breaking his train of thought, Rushpaw looked forward to see the brown cat pushing the earth down and forming a large hollow cave. Everyone seemed pretty much content at this moment, even Ferretpaw was chasing Umberpaw through the darkness.

Maybe they didn't have to kill each other, maybe the Zodiac's could along after all. But in Rushpaw's opinion, _that was a pretty big maybe. _

_

* * *

_**A/N: So did you like it? Rushpaw's powers are awesome aren't they? Well the next chapters will reveal their warrior names, I wonder if any of you were right!? Yay TFA Comes out on tuesday, and Im definitely getting it. Also keep watch for Terra: Blood Moon on the 24th, which of been trying to finish before I post it. Thanks! :p**

**~Leo~  
**


	20. Seventeen: Iceglare

**A/N: Ugh, sorry I haven't updated in the past three days, been busy with Thanksgiving among other things. Well I don't really know If I'm going to win NaNoWriMo this year, I only have 30,000 words done and three days left. I'll have to pull an all nighter or two If I'm going to! Maybe if you all review it will help me?**

**Anyway I hope you like it all, and I did reveal a few warrior names in this Chapter. I particularly liked Sandpaw's :)**

**~Leo~**

**

* * *

****CHAPTER 17**

The ice covering the crossing log froze Charredsoul's paws as he attempted to were slipping and sliding as they journeyed towards the island, most digging their claws into the slipper surface.

But as the ginger warrior crossed, the ice began to melt from the intense heat coming from his pads. Charredsoul, shocked from the heat from his body, gazing down at the melting ice below him.

_That's never happened before, _he thought with a realization, maybe his powers were evolving.

But Charredsoul had only just recently learned how to master his power, he didn't need or want to deal with another. And when was he going to be able to use his power anyway?

Charredsoul wanted to fight and protect his clan, he wanted to show the others that ThunderClan wasn't one to be reckoned with.

"Are you going to stay here all night?" Weaselstripe hissed from behind.

Embarrassingly padding across the log, Charredsoul landed with a sigh onto the cool snow covered ground below him.

"Are the rest of the clans here yet?" the ginger warrior turned to see his brother Sandblaze walking through the snow.

Honeyfrost looked through the trees, "RiverClan and ShadowClan appear to be here. It looks like WindClan isn't though." The shadows of cats could faintly be seen in the distance, and the scents of both clans wreathed through the cold midnight air.

"Let's go" Honeyfrost bent her head to squeeze through a patch of ferns, as the rest of ThunderClan followed.

Keeping his paws moving, Charredsoul padded in between Crimsonrise and Mossypath. Peering out of the corner of his amber eyes, the young warrior noticed the shiny pelt of Crimsonrise.

It shone like a pool of water lit ablaze by a sunrise, it was beautiful.

"Hey!" Charredsoul felt a push come from Mossypath as she saw him staring at the older she-cat, "Come on lets go speak with some other cats."

The tortoiseshell she-cat had become, how would you say it, obsessed with Charredsoul. Ever since she became a warrior, Mossypath had her eyes set on Charredsoul as a mate.

_But I don't want a mate, _he thought crossly, staring at Mossypath with a hateful glare. What did she just think she could force him into being her mate?

Well Charredsoul had news for her, she couldn't!

"Oh I think I see Umbershade" he meowed as Mossypath became distracted, "See you later!". Padding quickly over to the black ShadowClan warrior, Charredsoul was never happier to see him.

"Thats the she-cat stalking you eh?" Umbershade teased, as a lithe gray she-cat padded up next to him.

"The gatherings about to start" Smokecloud meowed as she flicked her tail to where WindClan was padding in. "Come sit with me" she meowed softly, as Umbershade nodded.

"Can't keep the she-cats off of me" he smiled, padding away to sit with the rest of ShadowClan.

The leader of WindClan, Thistlestar, padded towards the other leaders, an angry glare focused on Dovestar as he jumped atop his rock.

_He should be mad at me, _Charredsoul lowered his head, _Not Dovestar. It wasn't her fault! _Even though the fire had been put out, and Otterpaw had drained the lake, WindClan camp still wasn't able to occupy any cats.

"Let the gathering begin!" Scorchstar's loud voice rumbled through the island, as cats lowered themselves to listen. The ShadowClan leader took place in the front of the rock, pushing Dovestar out of the way.

"ShadowClan has two new warriors" he began with a contemptuous meow, "Umbershade and Hollowsong!". Yowls of approval broke out through the cats, as Charredsoul turned to see the two Zodiac's.

"We also have two new litters of kits, Moonwater and Huskpelt have given birth."

ShadowClan cats showed their pride as the leader announced the births, it was always a good and joyous time when kits were born. It meant the clan would survive into the future.

That was the last of the ShadowClan leaders announcements, and soon Mallowstar padded forward. His light brown pelt reflected the moonlight, lighting his handsome face so he would appear to look somewhat like a lion.

"RiverClan are in desperate need of more land" he began with a somber tone. "The lake has frozen around the shore, and the fish in the rivers have all but hidden from our paws."

Charredsoul turned his head as he noticed the usually sleek RiverClan cats, no looked starved and depraved of food.

"And that is why we are here to ask you for part of your land" Mallowstar's eyes lay on all three of the leaders.

Dovestar moved forward, her fluffy gray pelt turning silver in the light. "I would be more than happy to help you Mallowstar" she began while gazing into his blue eyes, "But my clan need all the land we possess, I am sorry but we can't afford to lose any of our prey."

Snarls came from the RiverClan cats, and Charredsoul noticed the newly named deputy Silversmoke, especially agitated. Petalfur had died in a savage attack from a dog, it had been a great loss to all of RiverClan.

The leaders gaze soon drifted to Thistlestar, who seemed to almost expect Mallowstar to pass him by.

"You actually think I have land to give you?" the white leader scoffed, "I barely have a camp for my own clan! We're living next to horses and cows for StarClan's sake."

A few angry gazes drifted in ThunderClan's direction, and Charredsoul saw a couple directed at him. Through the moonlight, the gray form of Scorchstar moved forward.

"ShadowClan would be happy to give you part of our territory" he meowed as sweet as honey, hiding something behind the mask he had on.

Mallowstar bent his head and sighed deeply, "I thank you deeply Scorchstar" he meowed thankfully, "RiverClan are eternally in ShadowClan's debt."

The look in Scorchstar's eyes was tinted with a darkness of some sort, the leader was planning something. And then as Dovestar moved forward to speak, Charredsoul noticed the ShadowClan leader sneering at her, as well as smiling at Mallowstar.

"They're planning something" Honeyfrost mentioned as she and Bumblebee padded to his side.

The deputy almost took the words right out of his mouth, something most definitely was going on between the two leaders. And whatever it was, Charredsoul knew he would give his life to protect ThunderClan.

But if he was to be taken down, he was going to take a few cats with him.

* * *

Flakes of white fell from the dark depths of the sky. Bluecloud padded softly through the bundles of snow, her silver-blue paws numb from the frozen mass.

Starlingsong padded along beside Bluecloud, her brown striped pelt thick from the swift approach of Leaf-Bare.

_But its coming to quickly, _it wasn't supposed to snow this early in the season, _The first full moon was coming. _Bluecloud knew it was only a moon and a half away, far to short for her to live her life to the fullest if in fact she was going to be taken away.

"What's wrong with you tonight?" the Medicine Cat apprentice looked into her mentors eyes, soon shaking her head of the dreary thoughts.

"Nothing" Bluecloud reassured her, "I'm...I'm just worried about Heathershine." The apprentices sister was expecting her first litter of kits, and on top of that, she had Green-Cough.

"She'll be fine" Starlingsong reassured her apprentice, "Queens have given birth with a sickness before, although I don't quite know why she chose to have kits during Leaf-Bare."

_Probably because she and Snowspots were careless, _Bluecloud thought with a silent sigh. Everyone knew these kits were an accident, Heathershine had to have been pregnant before she became a warrior.

"I see Tawnywing and Foxshadow" the brown Medicine Cat was looking through the snow infested forest, her eyes round from the darkness.

The golden-brown WindClan Medicine Cat soon became visible through the night air, padding alongside her was the ShadowClan apprentice Foxshadow.

"Where's Scarletshine?" Bluecloud's mentor meowed worriedly, probably because her friend Kestrelflight only died last moon.

Foxshadow lifted his head, "She's fine, just back at camp looking after Beaverkit. She had a nasty encounter with a bat."

"A bat?" a meow came from Whiteleopard as she joined through group, "What was a kit doing near a bat?".

Foxshadow only sighed, "Honestly I don't know. The reason Beaverkit is named Beaverkit, is because when she was only half a moon old, she led a patrol consisting of six kits to attack the beavers near the lake. They actually were able to injure two of them before we arrived."

A kit leading a patrol to attack beavers, now Bluecloud had heard everything. But what kit had the courage and the stupidity to attempt such a task?

As the group of Medicine Cats traveled on, Bluecloud noticed Rushpaw wasn't with Whiteleopard.

"Where's Rushpaw?" she asked casually, padding next to the black and white spotted she-cat.

Whiteleopard lifted her yellow gaze, "Back at camp helping Pricklepelt deliver her kits. He wasn't the happiest about the situation, but I knew he could handle it."

Bluecloud had never attempted such a task, she always had Starlingsong with her when a queen delivered her kits. What if something ever went wrong?

What if the mother bled out, or if one of the kits wasn't breathing? It was all to risky to attempt if you weren't completely confident with your abilities, and right now Bluecloud wasn't.

Realizing the others had already made it to the Moon Pool, Bluecloud hurriedly padded down the spiral stepping stones, and into the dark cavern.

Whiteleopard and Foxshadow already were beginning to sleep, as Tawnywing and Starlingsong drank from the water. Stepping forward, Bluecloud waited patiently until both were done, and then moved forward.

Lapping at the frozen moonlit water, the blue-gray she-cat could almost taste the stars. The crisp smell of snow wreathed through the Moon Pool, and as she lay down onto the cold stone ground, Bluecloud wished it was New-Leaf.

All the worries of Leaf-Bare approaching were far away then, she didn't need to worry about dieing or any of the clans harming each other, it was just pure serenity.

But she knew the Zodiac's had been doing everything they could to prevent this from happening. They had even been meeting every half-moon at the cave Sprucepaw made, they met in peace.

And if they could meet in peace for so long, then how was that in a moon and a half, they would kill each other? At this moment, Bluecloud only wanted to know one thing.

_Who was going to survive?_


	21. Eighteen: Flameslash

**A/N: Oh yeah, two updates in one night! This is an extra long chapter, and there's a bit of forshadowing as to who will survive in this chapter. Can you find it? Well I updated Terra: Blood Moon, I hope you all can check it out. Also we find out two more Zodiac's full names in this chapter, or did I let yet another one slip out? **

**Well I do have news on my OOTS series if you all want to hear it, I will post it at the bottom. I hope you all like this chapter, think I can reach 300? **

**~Leo~**

**

* * *

****CHAPTER XVIII**

Dismal gray clouds rolled above Ferretleaps head.A roll of thunder sounded, making two kits positioned near the lake shore, gasp in fright. A gray queen padded out from the barley covering the grassy plains, and hushed her two kits back into the makeshift nursery.

_We'd still have a nursery if it wasn't for that fox-dung ridden cat Charredsoul. If it wasn't for him Spottedpaw would still be alive. _

The cream striped warrior stared into the clouds, a cold gaze painted on his face. Five sunrises ago, Spottedpaw and her siblings were sent on their assessment to finally become warriors.

Branchpaw and Ferretpaw had split up to hunt closer to their old territory, while Spottedpaw went in the direction of the Horse-Place. The day seemed to be going quite well until Ferretpaw heard an ear piercing scream come from their temporary camp.

The sight of what Ferretleap saw, he couldn't and probably never would get it out of his mind. Spottedpaw was attacked by two dogs, probably wild, they ripped her face completely off.

With the pain Spottedpaw was in and the blood she was losing, the only thing Tawnywing could do was find Death Berries and make his sister finally rest in peace.

_She wouldn't have been attacked if we were back at our camp. If that stupid cat hadn't have burnt it down, my sister would still be a live. _

"Ferretleap?" a meow brought him back into the real world. A golden-brown she-cat stood staring at him with an unknown looked in her eyes, this was Lionsun, Sprucefrost's sister.

"What is it?" he asked coldly, barely looking the she-cat in her eyes.

Lionsun shuffled her paws, "I was just wondering if you wanted to go hunting with me? It might take your mind off things....I mean It might help if you didn't think about Spottedpaw."

Her words meant nothing to Ferretleap, he didn't want to go hunting, he wanted to get revenge.

"No thanks I'm fine here" he muttered quietly, turning his glance away from the golden she-cats.

"O..Okay" Lionsun stuttered with embarrassment and hurt, "I'll just...I'll just go by myself then."

Ferretleap didn't utter a word as the young warrior padded away solemnly, he didn't really care. Vengeance was the only thing on the toms mind at this moment, vengeance on Charredsoul, vengeance on ThunderClan.

He had pretty much forgiven Otterpool for drowning the camp, after all it was ruined anyway and he had to admit she was attempting to help WindClan. No, he didn't have a problem with RiverClan at the moment, it was all ThunderClan.

Spotting Thistlestar sitting under a beech tree, his Grandkit's, Burnetkit and Cherrykit.

_Maybe I can convince him to join RiverClan and ShadowClan in attacking ThunderClan. _Everyone knew it was going to happen, it was only a matter of time.

Taking a deep breath, Ferretleap bounded over to the long-furred leader, just as rain started to fall from the sky.

"No I'm going to be leader of WindClan, stupid brain!" Burnetkit spat at her sister, shaking her tiny ginger rump. Cherrykit looked shocked and turned to Thistlestar with an angry expression sprawled across her tiny kit face.

But before she could speak, Ferretleap greeted his leader. "Thistlestar, I need to ask you something" the cream warrior padded in front of the two kits, just as Burnetkit leapt onto her sister.

"Of course Ferretleap" Thistlestar smiled, beckoning for the young warrior to sit by him, "Nothings wrong is it?".

_Yes, _Ferretleap answered silently. _ThunderClan destroyed our home, and your doing nothing about it! _But Ferretleap chose a more respectful approach, and lifted his head to speak.

"I think we should join RiverClan and ShadowClan to attack ThunderClan" he meowed, unsure of what his leaders reaction would be.

Thistlestar simply lifted a paw for the warrior to stop, as he just began to continue with his argument. "I can't attack ThunderClan" he stated strongly, "If it wasn't for Lionblaze of ThunderClan, I wouldn't have made it past six-moons. He saved mine and my sisters lives."

"But!" Ferretleap began in desperate need to convince his leader.

But Thistlestar wouldn't have any talk of attacking ThunderClan, and without getting what he wanted, Ferretleap sprung away onto the moor. He ran as fast as he could, becoming a blur streaking through the air.

Ferretleap was going to find Charredsoul, he often went to the cavern the Zodiac's made together at night. The cream striped warrior was finally going to get revenge for his brother, he was going to kill Charredsoul.

* * *

A chill ruffled Ferretleap's fur as he looked out through the darkened moor. Straining his eyes to look for the cavern, the young tom could faintly scent ThunderClan.

_He is here, _Ferretleap narrowed his eyes in satisfaction, _Maybe things were going to his way after all._

Deciding to walk quietly towards him and surprise attack Charredsoul, the WindClan cat glided quietly across the plains. Bats fluttered through the midnight sky, their tiny sounds covering the faint noise of Ferretleap's paws.

He could faintly see the earth cavern Sprucefrost made for all the Zodiac's, Charredsoul was sitting right outside the entrance.

_It's time for revenge, _the WindClan cat readied his claws and muscles. _Now! _With a quickness only matched by the swiftest of falcons, Ferretleap dove through the air like a spiraling jagged stone.

Without even a hint of what was going on, Ferretleap bowled into Charredsoul with an extreme force. The two cats rolled on the ground, Ferretleap easily having the advantage over the ThunderClan tom.

Once they stopped tumbling down the grass, Ferretleap aimed a blow at Charredsoul's head.

"What are you doing?" the ginger warrior growled as he attempted to pin Ferretleap down, "You can't attack me, I'm a Zodiac!".

Ferretleap snorted, "As if that matters to me. You need to be punished for what you did, my Clan has no home because of you. My sister died because we were to close to the Horse-Place, to close to the dogs!".

Without even bothering to let the bewildered warrior speak, Ferretleap darted into the nearest tree, hiding in the shadows.

"This isn't fair!" Charredsoul spat through the darkness, "I can't fight with my power, there's no fire!".

_That's for the best. If you had fire right now you'd probably burn down the entire lake home! _Taking advantage over the powerless cat, Ferretleap leapt off the branch and barreled straight into Charredsoul.

Just as the cat un-sheathed his claws, Ferretleap was already running through the moor. There was no way Charredsoul could catch him now!

While running, the cream striped warrior soon became aware of a burning smell wreathing through the air. It wasn't fire was it? Stopping for a bleak moment, Ferretleap looked back to see where Charredsoul was.

Nothing but the grassy plains could be seen, Charredsoul had simply vanished. And then through the ferns behind him, Ferretleap faintly saw Charredsoul walking out onto the moor.

"I said I was sorry" he growled, Ferretleap could sense the anger rising in the tom. "I did everything I could to make the situation better, but you just won't take my apology will you?".

His amber eyes burned like the sun, and for a brief second, Ferretleap became fearful. "You're nothing but a stupid ThunderClan rat who hasn't even learned how to use his powers yet. Your a disgrace to your clan."

The words exited Ferretleap's throat like a cold wisp of smoke and instantly he knew he had said the wrong thing. And then was when Ferretleap became known to the fact that Charredsoul's paws were lit ablaze with flames.

"Rawr!" with a loud growl the ginger warrior blazed through the air, his paws only mouse-lengths from Ferretleap's face.

Adrenaline rushing through his veins, the WindClan tom picked up his speed and raced towards a Rowan Tree.

"How could it be possible?" he panted through long strides, "How could fire come out of his paws?".

Racing towards the line of trees, Ferretleap soon became apparent to the fact that Charredsoul was gaining on him, a crimson light glowing from his fiery paws.

Shooting himself into the tree branches, Ferretleap grabbed on to the tallest one with his sharp claws.

"Ha!" he called down to Charredsoul, "Let's see you get up here, stupid ThunderClan rat!".

For a moment Ferretleap gloated, as Charredsoul raced to the bottom of the tree. But that was when the WindClan cat noticed a ball of fire coming from Charredsoul's paw, it was coming straight at him.

* * *

Starlight filtered through the tree tops, scattering the silver rays onto Sprucefrost's light brown paws. A luscious waterfall cascaded down rocky slopes, forming into a large moonlit pool.

The sound of the rushing water calmed the newly made warrior, she felt safe here, like nothing could hurt her.

"But where am I?" she asked out loud into the darkness, looking for any form of life whatsoever. That was when Sprucefrost rested her blue-green eyes onto a form in the distance, a bright light illuminating from its pelt.

"Hello?" she asked warily, padding towards the bleak dark figure.

No answer came, but the mysterious cat did begin to move towards Sprucefrost. As the cat came into the moonlight, Sprucefrost noticed that the cat, a tom, was glowing with bright white stars.

"You're a StarClan cat!" she gasped as he sat down in front of Sprucefrost.

"Yes I am" the mottled brown tom meowed, twitching his tabby tail in amusement. "My name is Onestar" he told the young warrior, Sprucefrost gasped.

Onestar was the leader before Ashstar and even Thistlestar, he was a legend to all of WindClan!

"Why am I here?" Sprucefrost asked suddenly, realizing she was in fact in StarClan. "Am I dead?".

Onestar shook his head and folded his paws beneath his small body. "Do not be afraid young one, this is nothing more than a dream. But I do have something of grave importance to share with you."

Peaking her interest, Sprucefrost sat down next to the StarClan spirit, and looked forward to listen. Raising his head, the brown warrior stared straight into Onestar's bright amber eyes, they held something inside.

Something along the lines of worry, maybe even fear.

"As you know the full moon is approaching" he began with a deep sigh, "And you haven't yet honed your powers."

Sprucefrost turned, "Yes I have! Well...I think I have. I mean I've been training for a few days here and there, but whats there to hone?".

Behind the ancient WindClan leader, Sprucefrost noticed another figure appear. This cat was large, but lithe. And his pelt was a pitch black shade, with his paw turned almost completely backwards and twisted in a sickly way.

"Deadfoot what are you doing here?" Onestar turned in surprise at the newcomer. Deadfoot took one glance at Sprucefrost and bent down to whisper into the former leaders ear.

"No" Onestar growled almost immediately, "We cannot share that with her at this moment. She will find out on her own eventually."

"Find out what?" she asked, leaning forward to hear what Deadfoot was saying. If it was something about her powers or about the battle approaching, Sprucefrost needed to know!

Onestar turned and with a flick of his tail, dismissed Deadfoot to return to his clan mates.

"Never mind that" the old tom rasped, "As I was saying, the full moon is approaching. And you as a Zodiac will need to train hard if you are going to be one of the four left standing. Remember Sprucefrost, only one cat from each clan can survive this battle, it is to determine the future of all the clans."

Lowering her head with a saddened gaze, Sprucefrost didn't want to hear this. If only one cat from each clan was going to survive, then that meant either her or Ferretleap were going to die.

_But I can't let it be me, _the brown she-cat thought as she turned away from Onestar. No she couldn't let it be her, _for reasons she couldn't yet admit to her clan. _

_

* * *

_**A/N: Okay well you all probably have realized that Sands of Chaos is taking me forever to finish. That's probably because when I wrote the outline I wrote it for 55 chapters. Seeing as how that was to long when I looked it over, I realized something. What if I just split the book in two, and we get another OOTS book out of it? **

**Nonetheless, once I finish Sands of Chaos which has about 12 more chapters left, I will move on to OOTS #4. I have a title for it, but its so good I want you to wait and find out. Just lettin ya know, hopefully this will help me get it done faster!**

**~Leo~  
**


	22. Nineteen: Frozenbane

**A/N: Hello loyal reviewers, sorry to keep you waiting this long, I think I've got a cold. Well here's Chapter 19! Wow only 9 chapters left to this fic, and an Epilogue :) I haven't begun working on an outline for the sequel yet, so by the time this is finished it will probably be about a month until I post it. **

**I saw the movie Fantastic Mr. Fox today, it was okay, but I would much rather have seen Ninja Assassin or Transylmania. Well enough babbling, onto the story! Update when I reach 320! **

**~Leo~**

**

* * *

****CHAPTER XIX**

Cold waves of snow ravaged through ShadowClan camp,the pine trees blowing furiously in the savage wind. Howls came from the angry storm, keeping Hollowsong awake in the warriors den.

Piles of the cold mass covered the entrance to the den, some of it even blowing into the warriors nests.

"I can't take much more of this!" the new deputy of ShadowClan, Eclipsefall, snapped through the darkness.

"Well you don't have much choice" the eldest warrior, Greenclaw, told him sternly. "I've seen worst Leaf-Bares than this. One time when I was just a kit, the snow was piled up three fox-lengths high."

The youngest warrior Redbird gasped, her amber eyes round in fright. Hollowsong simply snorted and plopped back down into her nest, wrapping his fluffy tail over her nose.

"Maybe I should check on Moonwater" a worried mew came from the queens sister, Huskpelt.

"I'm sure they're fine" Greenclaw calmed her, "The queens have the best den in all of ShadowClan, not to mention the apprentices are staying in there with them."

Since a branch fell on the apprentices den two sunrises ago, the apprentices had all moved into the nursery until it could be rebuilt.

"Did you hear about Dawnpelt?" a whisper came from the former queen Squirrelclaw, "She died last night."

A gasp came from Huskpelt, "Poor Flametail and Tigerheart. They must be devastated!".

"Better an elder than a kit" Eclipsefall meowed bitterly, probably remembering the litter Goldenheart lost last Leaf-Bare.

Hollowsong had befriended that litter, _what were their names again?_ She only remembered the lone she-cat of the litter, Leopardkit.

Much death had come to ShadowClan in the recent moons, two days before Pumpkinpaw was apprenticed, he was run down by a monster on the Thunderpath.

And even the day before that, Owlclaw, a senior warrior, died in is sleep from Green-Cough. Hollowsong wished she had a power that would help her clan mates, not kill them.

But most of ShadowClan didn't even know she had a power, they all treated Umbershade like the main Zodiac. _Big deal, _she snorted silently while giving her sleeping brother a glare.

_He can disappear in darkness, what good can that do in a battle? At least I can fight with my power! _Maybe it was time for Hollowsong to reveal her power to ShadowClan after all.

But how?

* * *

Trekking through the lumps of snow covering the ground, Hollowsong picked through the fresh-kill pile until she found a toad that looked at least faintly appetizing.

"Not much to choose from I'm afraid" her father Grizzlyfur meowed, his spiky brown fur covered in icy snow.

"I can go out on another hunting patrol if you want?" Hollowsong offered, after all her father was one of the senior warriors now.

Grizzlyfur shook his head and smiled, "You've worked more than your share today Hollowsong, go eat and relax."

Thankfully bowing her head to her father, the brown she-cat padded through the snow until she found a quiet place outside the warriors den. Biting into the toad, Hollowsong groaned as she almost cracked her tooth, the toad was practically frozen solid!

Tossing it aside with a sneer, the brown she-cat looked up to see the two apprentices Wolfpaw and Spiderpaw looking towards her.

"She must feel so pathetic without a power" Wolfpaw chuckled, "I mean all the other Zodiac's have great powers, and what does she have?".

"Nothing" his brother Spiderpaw burst out laughing, making Hollowsong flex her claws, wanting to cuff the two toms over their ears.

"That's it!" she yowled, finally having enough of this nonsense.

"What's it?" a confused Foxshadow asked as he passed by, his eyes flickering at Hollowsong. Ignoring the Medicine Cat apprentice, the ShadowClan Zodiac tensed her muscles and padded up to the two bratty apprentices.

"I do have a power you little runts" she growled, as Spiderpaw only burst out laughing once more.

"Yeah?" Wolfpaw turned his gray head in amusement, "Then prove it all mighty Zodiac, lets see what your power is?".

Narrowing her eyes, Hollowsong briefly considered sending the two to drown themselves into the lake, but she just needed to prove her point.

"Hollowsong don't" Umbershade warned, his pitch black eyes watching her warily.

Ignoring her brother, the brown warrior padded one pawstep at a time, closer to Spiderpaw. Bending down to his level, Hollowsong opened her jaws to whisper into his ear.

"Go throw yourself into the brambles near the nursery" her voice wreathed through the cold night air, as Wolfpaw only laughed more and more.

But the laughing soon ceased, as the black and white apprentices eyes grew a hazy onyx shade, and he turned towards the nursery.

"What's he doing?" a pregnant Appleleaf asked as the apprentice walked by her.

But no one answered, their eyes were set on Spiderpaw who was only a fox-length from the brambles. Hollowsong curved her mouth in satisfaction, now everyone would know she had a power!

"Stop him Hollowsong!" her brother growled pleadingly, "This isn't right, Spiderpaw's one of your clan mates."

Rolling her eyes, the brown warrior pushed Umbershade aside and walked towards Spiderpaw.

"Stop" she commanded, and in the same instant the toms paws stopped dead. And then all at once his eyes returned to their normal yellow shade, and Spiderpaw looked around in confusion.

"Wow!" a squeak came from Flintkit as he ran out of the nursery, "Hollowsong has the best power in the whole world!". The tiny tom raced towards her, but Moonwater grabbed him back in a snarl.

Most cats were still either looking amazement at Hollowsong, or glaring in horror at her. But she didn't care what they thought, it was her power and she was going to use it.

Turning away to see Scorchstar padding her way, the young warrior briefly wondered if she was in trouble.

_I should have just told Spiderpaw to jump in the snow, not brambles! _

"That was very impressive" the dark gray leader meowed while bowing his head, "I wished you would have shared that power of yours with us earlier. Its quite...how do I put it?" Scorchstar lifted his paw as his claws sparkled in the moonlight, "It's quite Baneful."

The leaders eyes held a secret poison, as if when he looked upon Hollowsong, all he could see was a weapon to destroy the other clans with.

"Yes..." he meowed to himself with a smile showing his fangs, "You'll be quite useful in the battle against ThunderClan in a moon. Quite useful indeed..."

* * *

Umbershade's jaw dropped open in hysteria, was what he was hearing even accurate?

_My own sister is going to be used as a weapon against ThunderClan! And Scorchstar's just going to use her like its nothing. _His mind buzzing with the events that just occurred, Umbershade realized he had to warn Bluecloud.

Making sure no one was watching, the pitch black tom backed up into the shadows, and disappeared without a trace. Bounding along through the snow, the young tom felt anger rising inside his soul.

"Hollowsong was the evil one the whole time!" he couldn't wrap his mind around how that was possible, "My own sister... A weapon...".

A branch lay a fox-length ahead of Umbershade, but he quickly leapt over it, and landed in a heap of snow. His breath quickening as he increased his speed, Umbershade just hoped ThunderClan would be able to do something if they knew about Hollowsong's power.

The rocky enclosure was only fox-lengths ahead, but Umbershade skidded to a halt as moonlight lay in front of him.

_Fox-Dung, _he swore silently, eyeing the warrior Scorchcloud and her apprentice Fierypaw who were on guard duty. _Now what? _If Umbershade moved in either direction, the moonlight would expose his pelt, and then he would be caught!

Thinking of ideas, the black tom barely noticed as a large cloud drifted across the moon, blacking out any light that flooded down onto the snow ridden floor.

"Thank you StarClan" he whispered quietly, quickly racing across the snow until he was out of the two cats sight.

The break in the rock wall just happened to be right near the Medicine Cats den, hopefully Bluecloud would be there right now. Creeping to the edge, Umbershade outstretched his head to look through the v-shaped hole.

At first he only saw a few cats near the fresh-kill pile, sharing prey and sharing tongues.

"Bluecloud!" he mewed slightly louder as the apprentice Medicine Cat walked in front of his gaze.

Instantly she stopped, ears perked and eyes glowing. Hopefully she was the only one alerted to Umbershade's presence, thank StarClan no one else heard him.

"What's wrong?" she whispered into the darkness as Umbershade still stood invisible, "Is everything alright?".

He flexed his claws, "No, its not alright, everything's wrong now." Deep down Umbershade knew he shouldn't be betraying his clan like this, but he felt a sense of loyalty to tell the innocent cats in this what they would be facing.

He soon told Bluecloud of how Hollowsong revealed her power to the clan, and how Scorchstar's greed was going to turn her into a vicious weapon against ThunderClan.

"It's just as StarClan predicted" Bluecloud lowered her beryl gaze onto the speckled moonlit snow.

Umbershade didn't know what to say, but the one thing he did know, was that the prophecy was going to come true. Without another word, the black warrior turned to leave back to his home, as Bluecloud meowed for him to stop.

"You better know how to use your power" she told him solemnly, _"The Full Moon is approaching."_

_

* * *

_**A/N: What should the name of the sequel be? **

**1.) Scream of the Zodiac**

**2.) Path of the Zodiacs**

**3.) War of the Zodiacs  
**


	23. Twenty: Dustcave

**A/N: Yay an update, sorry It's kind of late though! I was originally going to post this yesterday but my computer crashed and it got deleted, so I had to rewrite the whole chapter plus the nest three chapters I wrote! Urgh.... Anyway I have some ideas for the sequel and maybe even a third book, its going to turn out awesome! **

**I do have a great name that none of you except one know about...haha you'll find out on the final chapter of Zodiac. Oh and I'd like to thank, Mudfur6264 for doing a great Fan art of Zodiac, thanks!**

**~Leo~**

**

* * *

****CHAPTER XX**

Staring at an enraged Mallowstar,Otterpool soon decided this wasn't the best time to be in camp. Turning her gray paws towards the lake, the newly made warrior nodded to her new deputy Silversmoke.

The silvery-gray she-cat didn't respond to Otterpool's greeting, she simply kept on padding over to speak with Mallowstar.

"I wish Petalfur was still deputy" she whispered under her breath, it was quite a shock when Petalfur was killed by that fox.

Having to clear her mind from all the craziness of RiverClan camp, Otterpool broke through the shrubs near the tiny streams, and onto the shore of the lake.

In the distance she could see an image of the island, nothing more than a black shadow behind the waves of snow pouring onto the ground. For some reason Otterpool didn't feel the cold as intense as other cats did, it simply felt normal to her fluffy fur.

The water at the edge of the shore was frozen solid, newly formed snow already piling on top of its icy surface. Otterpool still didn't know what Mallowstar was talking about at the gathering, there were still fish in the lake.

At least she could catch some. Padding onto the shiny ice, the gray warrior walked carefully until she came to a hole in its surface.

"I can fit through that" slowly Otterpool pushed back some of the snow near the surface.

With one swift movement, the lithe she-cat slipped into the black abyss of the lake. At first the extreme cold of the water shocked Otterpool, and she soon began shivering and chattering her teeth.

Soon tough the young Zodiac began to adjust to the freezing temperatures, and before she knew it, Otterpool was twirling down to the bottom. A few streams of sunlight shone through, allowing just enough light for the Zodiac to see where she was swimming.

_Well Mallowstar was right about one thing, _Otterpool thought as only a fish or two swam past her like a blur, there were fish, just not many.

Kicking with her back paws, Otterpool came to the bottom of the lake. Plants of various sizes and colors grew out of the sandy bottom, shells even scattered the dark beige surface.

Rummaging through the tiny particles for any sign of minnows or other fish, Otterpool noticed a thin black line running through the bottom of the ground.

_That's weird, _she told herself while swimming alongside it, _It looks like there's a crevice here._

Swimming down a ways until the thin crevice opened up into a large hole, Otterpool checked to see if there was anything inside. She didn't want to surprise an angry eel, that's how the elder Eelscar got his name, it took his tail clean off!

_Well, I guess there's nothing inside there. Maybe I should just go inside and see, maybe there's some prey for the clan!_

Otterpool's sister Dawnlight was already expecting her first litter of kits, Dawnlight was made to be a queen since the moment she was born.

_Here goes nothing, _the gray Zodiac bubbled through the opening, and into complete and utter darkness. The walls of the ground edged along Otterpool's sides, making her feel closed in and blocked off from the outside world.

But after swimming through a long narrow tunnel for quite awhile, Otterpool soon found herself in a wide chamber. And not only was this place large enough for her to swim around, there was also air at the top.

Breaking through the surface, Otterpool felt the change inside her body as she breathed in the oxygen of the moist cave.

"What is this place?" an underwater cave? Otterpool had never heard of such a thing!

Swimming towards a narrow bank of rock, Otterpool climbed unto the cold ground and looked around. It was almost completely dark except for a few rays of light that streamed through the water, it felt like night time!

Trailing along the edge of the bank, Otterpool examined the wall all around her, it looked so....so ancient!

"Wait a second..." Otterpool gasped as she saw carvings inside the stone, "No...It can't be!".

Symbols were carved on the wall nearest to the Zodiac, eight symbols to be exact. And all eight of them were wrapped like a circle around a carving that looked somewhat like the sun.

"What are these?" she asked out loud, peering closer at the small claw-made images. That was when Otterpool became really freaked out, all eight images soon began to glow and eery bright white light.

"These...These are all our powers" she realized, seeing a leaf symbol and a lightning symbol.

_That leaf symbol must mean Sprucefrost! And the lightning bolt was most certainly Ferretleap, he was as fast as lightning! _Her interest peaking, Otterpool turned onto the rest of the images, her sapphire eyes round with awe.

The next two were what appeared to be a skull, and a bat. _The bat must be Umbershade, _Otterpool realized, bats lived in the darkness. _But was the skull Hollowsong? I thought her power was to control cats minds and tell them what to do, not to... kill them. _

Shaking her head of the dark thoughts, Otterpool soon squeaked with excitement as she saw a rain drop and a symbol of light.

_The water symbol has to be me! And the light symbol has to be Rushpaw, his power is to read aura's! _This was starting to get both eery and exhilarating for the young Zodiac as she identified a fire symbol and a crescent moon symbol, obviously Charredsoul and Bluecloud.

"But why are these here?" Otterpool most certainly had no idea why, or how anyone would know these were each of the Zodiac's powers.

"And whoever carved these had to be ancient, this cave hasn't been touched in...." well Otterpool couldn't think of a number big enough, but not in awhile! Knowing the sun was going to be setting soon,

Otterpool turned to slink back into the water. But as she did, the young she-cat noticed two more drawings above the eight symbols, what were these?

Peering more closely, Otterpool could faintly see the images, though neither were lit.

_This one looks like some sort of big animal with spots, and the other one is a large jagged rock! _But why were these here? There were only eight Zodiacs, and they all already had symbols.

Whatever they did mean, Otterpool just knew something ancient had to have known StarClan was going to give these powers to eight cats. But why, and most importantly, who?

* * *

Rummaging through the snow covered forest, the gray and white Medicine Cat was searching for any sign of herbs. Rushfall had found a patch of Burnet, but whenever he went to look for any other herbs, more snow kept falling on top of them.

"This is why I need an apprentice" he groaned, biting down onto a Murdock root and yanking it as hard as he could.

But before he could get a firm hold on it, the root snapped and Rushfall came crashing backwards onto the ground.

"Fox-dung!" he spat as mud and snow splattered his gray and white pelt, Rushfall really needed an apprentice. He had become full Medicine Cat since Whiteleopard retired half a moon ago, at least nothing had gone terribly wrong since then.

"At least Pricklepelt's kitting went well" he muttered, it was his first birthing queen and she gave birth to two healthy kits.

Rushfall did have one minor incident with the only tom, Howlkit, he had something stuck in his throat. But luckily with Rushfall's quick thinking, he was able to get it out just in time, and now Howlkit was completely healthy!

Grabbing the remaining snow covered burnet leaves, along with the Murdock Root, Rushfall turned to return to RiverClan camp. The sky was dark and threatening, more snow was most certainly on the way.

As a kit Rushfall had always loved snow, but back then he hadn't realized the harships Leaf-Bare caused, death and sickness. Padding through the thorn wreaths near the clan entrance, Rushfall swerved to avoid a fighting Sleetpaw and Rainpaw.

"Are you two still kits?" he hissed while letting the herbs down, "I swear to StarClan you apprentices think you're leader of RiverClan, you need to learn some respect."

But the Medicine Cat doubted the two siblings even heard what he said, apprentices usually had a way of tuning lectures out. Leaping across the small stream surrounding his den,

Rushfall padded into the warm earthy enclosure. He dropped the burnet near the back of the Medicine Den, Whiteleopard had made a small bowl like dent to store the herbs inside.

"Well that's enough gathering for today" he sighed, pacing in circles until Rushfall finally found a comfortable spot in his moss nest.

Large snow flakes fell outside the entrance, and for a long while the small Medicine Cat watched them fall to the pure white ground.

"Mother?" a voice jarred Rushfall, it was coming from the back of the den.

"Weaselkit!" he meowed in surprise, Rushfall had totally forgotten Pricklepelt's other kit had stayed the night, she had a bit of a cough.

"Where's my mother?" she asked groggily, rubbing his eyes with his small fluffy paw.

Rushfall sighed, "She's in the nursery with your brother, you can see her soon. Let's give you some honey though for your throat, is it still bothering you?".

Weaselkit nodded tiredly, flicking her fluffy ears as another cough erupted from her throat. Seeing the pain the half-moon old kit was in, Rushfall knew he had to help her and padded away to gather honey.

He found a small twig outside, and dipped it inside of a honeycomb Otterpool and his sister Thunderstripe had found the previous day. Getting a quite a bit of the sticky golden liquid on the twig, Rushfall gave it to Weaselkit to lick off.

Warily she padded forward and sniffed it, but after tasting the sweet golden stuff, Weaselkit devoured it like a fox to a rabbit.

"Mmm...Can I have more?" she asked, almost entirely forgetting about her cough.

Rushfall smiled, "Maybe later, let's get you back to Pricklepelt first. I'm sure shes worried about you." Herding the kit out of the den, Rushfall turned to follow, but stopped abruptly as a large burning sensation erupted from his paw.

"What in StarClan's name?" he cursed in pain, lifting his burning pad to examine it. His pure white pad was almost completely different, it had eight black stars glowing on it.

"How...." Rushfall couldn't even finish his sentence, the stars were glowing brightly.

And then all at once the burning sensation died down, and at the same time four of the stars died and faded away, almost as if they turned to dust.

"These eight stars are all of the Zodiacs" but how was it possible?

Rushfall didn't know, but he did know that four of the Zodiac's were going to be joining StarClan soon,_ turned to dust like the stars Rushfall had seen. _


	24. Zodiac Allegiances

**A/N: Sorry for those who thought this was an actual update, I haven't finished Chapter 21 yet :( Well I just thought it was time to have an updated allegiances because its been a year since the beginning of Zodiac, I know way to many kitties! Well as you will see a lot has changed and I've come up with some cool names (In my opinion). **

**Please review on how you like the names please! Oh and can anyone please check out the two One-Shots I wrote? A seekers one called Guardian of the Stars and Warrior is Rippling Echoes. Thanks!**

**~Leo~**

**

* * *

****ALLEGIANCES**

THUNDERCLAN

LEADER

**DOVESTAR-**

_fluffy gray she-cat_

DEPUTY

**HONEYFROST- **

_golden she-cat with blue eyes_

MEDICINE CAT

**STARLINGSONG- **

_light brown tabby she-cat_

**APPRENTICE, BLUECLOUD**

WARRRIORS

(toms and she-cats without kits)

**IVYPOOL- **

_gray and white tabby she-cat_

**ANTLEG- **

_light ginger tom with a black leg_

** KESTRELTAIL- **

_dark brown and white tom_

**APPRENTICE, BEAVERPAW**

** BURNTPELT- **

_strong flame furred tom_

** FIRLEAF- **

_brown speckled tom_

**SCORCHCLOUD- **

_ginger dappled she-cat_

**APPRENTICE, FERNPAW**

** COLDPOPPY- **

_white and tortoiseshell dappled she-cat_

** PEPPERFOOT-**

_gray and white speckled she-cat_

** SEDGEHEART- **

_long-furred white she-cat_

** MALLOWFALL- **

_long limbed gray tom_

** QUILFUR- **

_spiky brown and black tom_

**LEOPARDFANG- **

_lithe golden she-cat_

**CRIMSONRISE- **

_ginger and white she-cat_

**REDLION- **

_reddish-brown tom_

** ALDERFERN- **

_light brown she-cat_

**APPRENTICE, STORMPAW**

** SNOWSPOTS-**

_pure white tom with blue eyes_

** MOSSYPATH- **

_tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes_

**SANDBLAZE- **

_sand-furred tom_

**CHARREDSOUL- **

_dark ginger tom_

**APPRENTICE, FIERYPAW**

**TIMBERCLAW-**

_dark brown spotted tom_

APPRENTICES

(more than six moons old, in training to become warriors)

** BEAVERPAW- **

_light brown tom_

**FIERYPAW- **

_blazing ginger she-cat with green eyes_

**STORMPAW-**

_light gray she-cat_

**FERNPAW- **

_dark gray spotted tom with green eyes_

QUEENS

(she-cats expecting or nursing kits)

** LEAFBREEZE- **

_light brown tabby she-cat, mother of Kestreltail's_

_kits; Vixenkit (light ginger spotted she-cat) and Berrykit (dark_

_cream she-cat)_

**MOTHSPOTS- **

_spotted golden and black she-cat, mother of_

_Antleg's kits; Hollykit (light brown and black striped she-cat)_

_Dewkit (gray spotted tom) and Nightkit (black furred tom)_

**HEATHERSHINE- **

_pale brown she-cat with bright blue eyes,_

_expecting Snowspot's kits_

ELDERS

(former warriors and queens, now retired)

** BRIARSTRIPE- **

_dark brown she-cat_

** ICECLOUD- **

_white she-cat_

** LIONBLAZE- **

_golden tabby tom with amber eyes_

* * *

SHADOWCLAN

LEADER

**SCORCHSTAR- **

_dark gray tom_

DEPUTY

**ECLIPSEFALL-**

_strong black furred tom_

MEDICINE CAT

**SCARLETSHINE- **

_rose furred she-cat with beautiful_

_amber eyes_

**APPRENTICE, FOXSHADOW**

WARRIORS

**GREENCLAW- **

_black tom with green eyes_

**DUSKPETAL- **

_black and white she-cat_

**APPRENTICE, RAVENPAW**

**GRIZZLYFUR- **

_large brown tom with yellow eyes_

**SQUIRRELCLAW- **

_small ginger she-cat_

**APPRENTICE, SPIDERPAW**

**HUSKPELT-**

_tortoiseshell and white she-cat_

**APPRENTICE, WOLFPAW**

**LIZARDFANG-**

_long limbed black tom with yellow eyes_

**GOLDENHEART-**

_pretty golden dappled she-cat_

**SMOKECLOUD-**

_lithe dark gray she-cat_

**HOLLOWSONG- **

_light brown she-cat with black feet_

**UMBERSHADE- **

_pitch black tom with black eyes_

** BLACKPELT- **

_small black tom_

**REDBIRD- **

_ginger and tawny spotted she-cat_

QUEENS

_**MOONWATER- **_

_light silver she-cat with blue eyes, mother of_

_Scorchstar's kits; Beaverkit (dark brown she-cat) and Flintkit (dark_

_gray spotted tom)_

**APPLELEAF- **

_ginger and white she-cat_

ELDERS

**REDWILLOW-**

_mottled brown and ginger tom_

**SHREWFOOT- **

_gray black she-cat with black feet_

** TIGERHEART- **

_dark brown tabby tom_

**FLAMETAIL- **

_small ginger tom_

* * *

WINDCLAN

LEADER

**THISTLESTAR-**

_long haired white tom_

DEPUTY

**SUNSTRIKE- **

_tortoiseshell she-cat with a large white mark_

_on her forehead_

MEDICINE CAT

**TAWNYWING**-

_light golden furred she-cat_

WARRIORS

**DAISYPETAL- **

_pure white she-cat_

**STONEFEATHER- **

_dark gray tom with unusually fluffy fur_

**APPRENTICE, JAYPAW**

**RUSSETHEART- **

_light ginger tom_

** RAVENPELT-**

pitch black tom

** YELLOWPOPPY- **

_dark brown she-cat with piercing yellow eyes_

**APPRENTICE, GOLDENPAW**

**SWEETMALLOW- **

_gray furred she-cat_

**APPRENTICE, DIAMONDPAW**

** WASPFUR- **

_small black and white striped tom_

** TIGERDAWN- **

_ginger she-cat with black stripes and amber eyes_

**APPRENTICE, MIDNIGHTPAW**

** COTTONTAIL- **

_fluffy white she-cat with green eyes_

** NECTORPELT-**

_golden and brown striped tom with amber eyes_

**AUBURNCLAW- **

_dark brown tom_

** PINELEAF- **

_pretty tortoiseshell she-cat_

** HORIZONFUR- **

_large golden tom_

**APPRENTICE, TWOPAW**

** CLOUDEDMOON- **

_gray and white dappled tom with bright_

_blue eyes_

**APPRENTICE, FAWNPAW**

**FERRETLEAP- **

_striped cream-furred tom_

** BRANCHFOOT- **

_dark brown tom_

** SPRUCEFROST- **

_light brown she-cat with green eyes_

** LIONSUN-**

_golden and brown she-cat_

QUEENS

**CINDERBREEZE- **

_beautiful gray and white she-cat_

**GOLDGRASS-**

_light golden she-cat_

ELDERS

**SEDGEWHISKER- **

_light brown tabby she-cat_

**RABBITEAR- **

_white tom with one brown ear_

** HEATHERTAIL- **

_light brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes_

* * *

RIVERCLAN

LEADER

**MALLOWSTAR- **

_light brown tabby tom_

DEPUTY

**SILVERSMOKE- **

_silver furred she-cat with gray stripes_

**APPRENTICE, SLEETPAW**

MEDICINE CAT

**RUSHFALL- **

_gray and white tom_

WARRIORS

**GRASSFOOT- **

_light gray tabby tom_

** BERRYHEART- **

_light brown tabby she-cat_

**APPRENTICE, ROSEPAW**

** HOLLYHERB- **

_black and silver striped she-cat_

**APPRENTICE, SANDYPAW**

**NIGHTWATER- **

_black tom with white paws and tail_

** PONDRIPPLE- **

_gray she-cat_

** FOXFROST- **

_ginger tom with bright blue eyes_

** LIGHTHEART- **

_shiny furred golden she-cat_

**APPRENTICE, RAINPAW**

** DARKSAND- **

_black she-cat with ginger feet_

** FROZENFOOT- **

_gray spotted tom with white feet and tail_

**OTTERPOOL- **

_blue-gray she-cat_

**THUNDERSTRIPE- **

_gray and white striped she-cat_

**APPRENTICE, SHINEPAW**

**ADDERTOOTH-**

_black furred tom_

** PATCHFERN- **

_black and white spotted she-cat_

** TROUTLEAP- **

_small white tom with gray ears_

QUEENS

**PRICKLEPELT- **

_tortoiseshell she-cat with prickly fur, mother of_

_Foxfrost's kits; Weaselkit (striped brown tom) and Howlkit (black_

_and tortoiseshell she-cat)_

**DAWNLIGHT-**

_dark gray she-cat_

ELDERS

**WHITELEOPARD- **

_white spotted she-cat with a black tail_

_and feet_

** ROBINCLAW-**

_tortoiseshell and white tom_

** BEETLEWHISKER- **

_brown tabby tom_


	25. Twenty One: Tempestfall

**A/N: o.O really long chapter update! YAY! Okay thanks for the reviews last chapter, It took me so long to do the whole allegiances, way to many cats! Well this fic is slowly coming to an end, hmm... is there some forshadowing as to who will die in this chapter? Well there's a little more than foreshadowing but I'll let you find that out! **

**Okay so here's the thing, I have the basic plot written out for the sequel to Zodiac, but I'm stuck on how many characters. The four Zodiac's who live will be featured and maybe some new characters as well, but how many POV's is to much? Please review, can I reach 360? :)**

**~Leo~**

**

* * *

****CHAPTER XXI**

Staring out onto the snow covered forest,Charredsoul couldn't help but divert his gaze to his dark ginger paws. It had been half a moon since the battle with Ferretleap, and since the young warrior discovered his power had evolved.

_But how can my paws make fire? I thought I could only control it, not create it!_

At least he hadn't seriously injured Ferretleap, the tom darted out of the tree before Charredsoul could get him, but he was sure he aimed a ball of fire at the WindClan cats shoulder.

"Are you watching?" a hiss came from a fiery pelted she-cat looking at him with a glare.

"What? Oh yes, good job Fierypaw" he congratulated his new apprentice on her mouse she caught.

Charredsoul was still adjusting to having an apprentice of his own, but it did help that she was one of the fast learning apprentices. Charredsoul felt bad for his mother Scorchcloud who had to train the wily apprentice Fernpaw, who was brother to Stormpaw.

Fernpaw wasn' exactly the brightest of the apprentices, one of the warriors had to explain to him thoroughly that prey couldn't be eaten alive. What a poor Starling.

"Hey what's going on back at camp?" his blaze furred apprentice asked, flicking her tail to a commotion at the entrance of ThunderClan camp.

"I don't know" he meowed while dropping his vole, "But let's find out." The two ginger cats walked over to the small gathering, and Charredsoul froze as the scent of fox drifted through the air.

"What's wrong?" he asked his brother Sandblaze who had a solemn look spread across his beige-furred face.

Sandblaze turned, "Didn't you hear? I thought everyone knew by now!".

His brother shook his head, "No, heard what?".

"Honeyfrost is dead" a deep meow came from Burntpelt, Charredsoul and Sandblaze's father, "A fox was trying to steal Vixenkit and Berrykit from the nursery, she sacrificed her life for them."

_Honeyfrost, dead? _At first Charredsoul thought perhaps he heard his father wrong, the great deputy of ThunderClan couldn't be dead! Not only was she the deputy, but the daughter of two of the greatest ThunderClan cats, Poppystar and Berrynose.

Plenty of strong blood flowed through ThunderClan, in fact Charredsoul himself was a distant descendent of Firestar, his father Burntpelt was Lionblaze's son.

"Dovestar is holding the deputy ceremony at Moon-High" Pepperfoot meowed sadly, "We better get back and make sure the kits and queens are protected."

Padding through the Thorn-Tunnel, Charredsoul made sure Fierypaw stook close to him, he didn't want her seeing the grizzly sight of Honeyfrost's death.

Charredsoul didn't even need to see his former deputies body to know it was bad, one of the strongest warriors in the clan, Leopardfang had a disgusted and horrified expression on his face.

"The moons almost above our heads" Fierypaw noted, lifting her head to look up into the starlit sky.

Staring at the Half Moon in the sky, Charredsoul felt himself overcome with fear. _Only half a moon left until the first full moon of Leaf-Bare...and the day four of the Zodiacs die. _

"I wonder what happened to the fox?" Fierypaw asked as Beaverpaw padded by.

"Kestreltail and I chased it off" he bragged with a smirk, "I'm going to be a warrior before you know it!".

Charredsoul's apprentice chuckled, "You still have kit fur Beaverpaw, oh yes I can just see ShadowClan trembling in their pelts now!". The brown-furred tom shook his fur in embarrassment and padded away to gather around Honeyfrost's body.

"Why must you terrorize him now?" Charredsoul sighed, "You know Honeyfrost was his mother..."

"What?" Fierypaw snapped, "No I didn't, but she...she's deputy!". The warrior made sure no one was around to hear and then turned to his apprentice,

"Didn't you think it was a bit odd that Quilfur was deputy for two-moons? And that Honeyfrost returned to her duties after Beaverkit was born?".

The apprentice chuffed, "How could I know that bee-brain? I was born half a moon after him! It's not my fault..." Charredsoul could hear the edginess in her voice, but also Fierypaw probably felt a little guilty.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather here beneath the High-Ledge for a clan meeting!".

Cats lifted their heads at Dovestar's call, the fluffy gray she-cat standing majestically on the tall ledge. As he went to join the clan, Charredsoul darted to the side as Mothspots litter dove under his feet.

"Nightkit, Hollykit, Dewkit!" she scolded the litter, her golden spotted body trying to gather them all.

"Here" Charredsoul meowed, running forward and picking up Nightkit and Hollykit in his jaws.

"Thank you" Mothspots meowed as Fierypaw carried Dewkit into the nursery.

"No problem" he turned to leave as Dovestar carried on with her announcement.

"Cats of ThunderClan!" she bellowed out across the hollow, "It is my deepest sorrow to have to name a deputy so soon. I envisioned Honeyfrost outliving myself, and earning the name Honeystar."

She paused as many cats bent there heads in sorrow, and even a few let out howls of remorse. Images of the strong golden deputy always comforting any cat who was hurt or ill, or even sad.

Honeyfrost had always been there for Charredsoul and any other cat, she told him that just because he was different, didn't mean he didn't have the same heart of a warrior every other cat did.

"I say these words before the spirits of StarClan, so they may hear and abide by my chocie" Dovestar closed her eyes as she rose her head into the sky.

"Charredsoul shall be the new deputy of ThunderClan!" the echo rang out through all the ears of ThunderClan cats, almost every single cat gasped.

"Him?" a growl came from Mallowfall, "He's nothing more than a kit! Making Lionblaze deputy would have been better!".

"Hey" the golden elder snapped, "I was leader thank you very much, now shut your mouth before I shut it for you." The gray tom lowered his head in submission, as Sandblaze pushed Charredsoul forward.

"Th...Thank you Dovestar" he stuttered, still wondering if this was a dream or not. The gray-furred leader could tell he was shocked, and comfortingly laid her tail on his shoulder.

"May you serve your clan for many moons, and one day receive your nine lives as StarClan destined you to" her voice held certainty that it would happen one day.

But Charredsoul wasn't so sure, what if he was one of the four who died? And if that was the case, then Dovestar would be holding this exact ceremony in less than a moon.

* * *

Ice clung to Bluecloud's paws as she stomped lightly through the piles of snow, being careful not to trip. The blizzard around her raged on like an angry white badger, blowing bitter cold wind into her bright blue eyes.

Pausing for a moment in the middle of the tempest, Bluecloud considered walking back to ThunderClan camp, she was going to freeze!

_But StarClan won't talk to me, and If my power isn't working, then I have to go to the Moon Pool. _It angered Bluecloud immensely, the one measly power she had didn't even work!

For StarClan's sake Charredsoul could control fire, and Bluecloud could only speak with StarClan? Even Umbershade had a better power than hers, at least he could fight with it!

_At this rate I'm going to be the first one to die, _it seemed to Bluecloud that her death sentence happened at birth.

"But I have to find out one way or another" she growled, pushing herself onward towards the Moon Pool. The wind seemed to howl through the pine trees above Bluecloud's head as it threw snow onto her thin pelt.

_I can barely see a mouse-length ahead, _she strained her eyes to see through the thick wall of white, how was she going to find the Moon Pool now?

But just as she started to lose hope, the Medicine Cat apprentice could just faintly see a gray mass in the distance. Pushing herself just a little more, Bluecloud almost froze into an icicle as she entered the cavern.

"Thank you StarClan" the warmth already began to flow through her paws and pelt as Bluecloud padded down the spiral stones.

The Thunderous roar of the waterfall echoed out the howl of the Blizzard above. Freezing water sprayed the she-cats pelt as she leaned forward to drink the icy liquid, it cascaded down her throat like a river of snow.

"Please speak with me" she whispered, laying on the cold surface and closing her eye lids.

If StarClan didn't speak with Bluecloud, she had no idea how she would survive. Laying completely and utterly still for quite a while, Bluecloud almost felt as if she was drifting away.

Opening her eyes quickly as something prodded her in the side, the Medicine Cat briefly wondered if Foxshadow or Tawnywing had journeyed through the storm after all.

"Wake up!" a loud hiss sounded. Instantly Bluecloud smiled, that hiss could only come from one cat, a cat as grumpy as a badger.

"Jayfeather!" she meowed happily, leaping onto her former Medicine Cat and nuzzling him.

The tom hissed, "Get off of me for StarClan's sake, I'm dead not pregnant!".

Calming herself, Bluecloud became quite surprised as she noticed Jayfeather's bright cerulean eyes looking at her.

"You can see?" she asked, Bluecloud had known when cats joined StarClan they became healed from injuries or deformities, but she didn't expect Jayfeather to.

She also noticed the former Medicine Cat looked much younger, and even slightly handsome. Since he died a moon ago from Green-Cough, Bluecloud always wondered if he would contact her.

"I know why you're here" Jayfeather growled, walking to the edge of the Moon Pool, "You want to know why you're only power is to contact StarClan."

Looking forward at the StarClan spirit, Bluecloud noticed he was visiting her, she wasn't visiting him.

"Charredsoul can control fire for StarClan's sake!" she suddenly snapped out of nowhere, "And what can I do? Am I going to growl at ShadowClan cats that their dead parents said this was wrong?".

That was practically the only thing she could do with this power, although Bluecloud probably wouldn't do anything now that it wasn't working. No answer came from the spirit, as he stared with bright eyes at the rushing water of the water fall.

"Well?" she glared, "Aren't StarClan going to do anything to help me? I'll die!".

Jayfeather turned, "Bluecloud there's something you need to know. Something....that I thought you never would need to know." His words held an importance even Bluecloud detected, what was it?

"The reason I didn't want you to become a Medicine Cat was because it wasn't you're path, you were never meant to be one. You weren't in you're last life...".

His last words made Bluecloud's eyes widen in complete shock, "What....what did you just say? My, last life?".

Jayfeather nodded, "The reason you're only power is to speak with StarClan any time, is because you never left StarClan, Bluestar."

"Why are you calling me Bluestar?" she hissed, "I'm a Medicine Cat not a leader!" had Jayfeather finally snapped? None of this made any sense to the young Zodiac, Jayfeather was speaking about a last life? Cats only had one life!

"You've heard of the ancient leader Bluestar haven't you?" he asked while looking back at the water, "She was leader before Firestar."

Bluecloud nodded, "My mother told me, she died when a pack of dogs attacked. It was at the forest home wasn't it?".

The former Medicine Cat nodded, "That is true, and she served StarClan for many moons. But before the eight of you were born, Bluestar came to me in a dream. She said that before it came....she needed to be reincarnated into a living body to guide the other Zodiacs."

_It couldn't be! I'm a reincarnation of the great leader Bluestar? But how!? _

Bluecloud shook her head, this had to be some cruel trick of StarClan, it couldn't be true! But then flashes of images came back to the blue-gray she-cat, a broad shoulder tabby tom snarling at her, and water rushing as she fell over a gorge.

_But how can I remember this, _Bluecloud shook her head, _I don't even remember any of this happening! _

"You'll serve more purpose in the Afterlife then in life" Jayfeather's voice held a dark yet hopeful tone, "You'll be their guardian, the guardian of the Zodiacs."

Bluecloud looked the wise tom straight in the eye, and in this moment she knew all of this was true, Bluecloud's purpose was to die.

"If this is my destiny" she spoke slowly yet strongly, "Then who am I to try and change it? I was never a Zodiac to begin with was I?".

The gray tabby flicked his ear, "Actually all eight of you are Zodiac's, but only four of you are meant to save the clans..." he trailed off as if before saying to much.

Suddenly what the StarClan spirit said before jarred Bluecloud, what did he say?

"What did you mean, Bluestar...I came to you in a dream and said before it came she needed to be reincarnated. Before what came?".

Jayfeather didn't answer, he simply avoided the young cats gaze and began to pad away. Bluecloud didn't stop him, after all she would see him soon enough.

"I would advise you get an apprentice" Jayfeather's comment sent a chill down Bluecloud's spine, if she didn't get an apprentice soon then there would be no Medicine Cat for StarClan.

_If this is all true, _she thought while the spirit disappeared into a wisp of stars, _then what is my purpose in StarClan? If I'm the Zodiacs guardian, then what am I going to guard them from? _

_

* * *

_**A/N: How many point of views should be in Zodiac 2? **

**1.) 4**

**2.) 8**

**3.) 10  
**


	26. Twenty Two: Whiteorbs

**A/N: Onto Chapter 22! Wow only six more chapters until the end, plus a really short epilogue. I've been frantically sorting out all my stories, and I have decided to only have 50 stories in Age of Lost Souls. So that and Zodiac should be finished up, and once those are done I'm going to focus on Omen of the Stars and Terra: Blood Moon. **

**I also have another story in the works which I have a few chapters done, its called "Fear World". Its kind of like Age of Lost Souls, but its about all of the cats worst fears coming to life. I'll tell you more about it down below! Please review, if I reach 390 (which is a lot) I will double update tomorrow! **

**~Leo~**

**

* * *

****CHAPTER XXII**

A searing pain surged through Ferretleap's shoulder, the fiery burn had scorched his cream fur straight off of his skin, now nothing was left but bare pink flesh.

Tawnywing had done all she could to heal it, but there would always be a scar. Always a mark to remind Ferretleap he had lost in the battle against Charredsoul.

_We need to get revenge on ThunderClan, _he sneered silently, staring way past the trees, almost seeing the camp through the darkness.

But there was no way Thistlestar would attack now, not since Dovestar gave WindClan part of their territory. Now WindClan lived between the Moon Pool and ThunderClan camp, at least they still had part of the moor.

"Ferretleap" a meow came from the deputy Sunstrike, her tortoiseshell fur glinting in the moonlight. "I want you to go on a patrol along ShadowClan territory, but stay by the lake. Part of the agreement Dovestar and Thistlestar made said we would help patrol their borders."

Ferretleap snorted, "Why should we do their work? ThunderClan destroyed our home remember?" his eyes flared with anger, "Shouldn't they give us more territory?".

Sunstrike let out a low hiss, the mark on her forehead becoming twisted as she narrowed her eyes.

"Ferretleap for once just do as you're told" a growl came from his father Waspfur, who padded over next to Sunstrike.

"Fine!" he snapped with fury, turning and walking angrily over to the patrol consisting of Cloudedmoon, his apprentice Fawnpaw, Tigerdawn and Diamondpaw.

"Are we going or not?" he hissed to the leader of the patrol, Cloudedmoon.

The gray and white dappled tom narrowed his eyes at Ferretleap's sour attitude, "We just need to wait for Horizonfur and Twopaw, they should be coming soon."

Ferretleap waited impatiently until finally the warrior and his apprentice came to join the patrol, Ferretleap hissed lowly as he saw Twopaw's face. The young tom had gotten to close to an eagle one day, and had two gashes slit across his face.

Finally heading off in the direction of the lake, the patrol made sure to stay well within the parameters Dovestar and Thistlestar had set. The cold snow underneath his pads froze Ferretleap to the very core, he hated Leaf-Bare!

The ring of sand around the lake was frozen hard as well, dusted with the bright white powder of snow. As night fell onto the four clans of the lake, Ferretleap soon became desperate to separate himself from the rest of the patrol, he had a plan.

"Cloudedmoon" the gray dappled tom turned as Ferretleap called his name.

"Yes, what is it Ferretleap" he asked quickly, unsure of if the young warrior was going to be angry or not.

Ferretleap had never gotten to know the older warrior particularly well in the moons he was alive, but Sprucefrost certainly had. The two didn't show it among the rest of the clan, but Ferretleap knew there was something between them.

"I was wondering if you wouldn't mind continuing the patrol without me, I'm not feeling so well. I think I might just go for a quick hunt."

"Of course, feel better!" Cloudedmoon meowed quicker than a chickadees chirp.

Ferretleap chuckled quietly as he turned the opposite direction of the patrol, his sour attitude came in handy sometimes, the older warrior didn't think twice about his decision if it meant Ferretleap was gone.

_Now I just have to find ShadowClan camp,_ he eyes glinted through the moonlight as the patrol headed back towards WindClan's new camp. Padding through the pine tree infested part of the forest, Ferretleap curled his lip as a scent spiraled through the cold midnight air.

_ShadowClan, _the WindClan tom spat in disgust at the crow-food eating scent, it was simply atrocious!

"What are you doing here?" a sharp growl came from a fox-length away.

Ferretleap almost leapt out of his pelt at the cats voice, had a ShadowClan patrol caught him? But as the cat stepped into the moonlight, Ferretleap breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hollowsong!" he padded forward happily and with a tinge of relief, now he didn't have to go trudging through ShadowClan camp to find her!

"You didn't answer my question" she repeated, her eyes focused on Ferretleap intently, "What are you doing here." And then like a magnetic pull, Ferretleap felt his mind drifting to the answer she was seeking and then he opened his mouth to tell her.

"I came here to ask you to help me" he told her, "ThunderClan destroyed my clans home, they deserve to pay for it."

Hollowsong snorted, "Then tell your leader that, what am I going to do? Prance right into WindClan camp and make him attack ThunderClan."

A hint of evil glinted in Ferretleap's eyes as he smiled, "That's precisely what I want you to do. There's no way Thistlestar would agree to help RiverClan and ShadowClan defeat ThunderClan" he paused as Hollowsong lifted her head in interest, "Not unless someone made him".

The ShadowClan cat gasped, "You'd do that to your own leader? You'd have me control him just so you can get revenge."

Ferretleap hissed spitefully, "Of course I would. And once we do it Thistlestar will see its for the good of WindClan. All three clans are going to wage war against ThunderClan,_ and we're going to do it with your help."_

_

* * *

_

Earth shot up through the moor, dirt flew as jagged rocks became uprooted from their post. Sprucefrost narrowed her green eyes on a large boulder, and with one flick of the tail it shot up into the air.

"Finally" she meowed happily, Sprucefrost was finally perfecting her power.

And she was far enough away from the clans so none of them would notice what she was doing, she had even built a large cavern to sleep in sometimes.

Thistlestar was fully aware what she was doing out here, and often times let her sleep out here if she was training late, after all she was a Zodiac.

_Ferretleap should be practicing to, _she added silently. Her stubborn clan mate already believed that his power was completely mastered, even though not even a day ago he tried to jump into a tree, but missed and landed in a clump of snow.

"Yeah that seems completely mastered to me" she grumbled, flicking her tail as another mound of dirt erupted from the earth.

There was only a quarter moon left until the first moon of Leaf-Bare. At first when Snow began to fall more than a moon ago, Sprucefrost had thought this last moon was the first moon, but it seems the snow just came rather early in Leaf-Fall.

Soon becoming distracted in the tunnels she was making in the ground, Sprucefrost barely noticed a large falcon circling in the sky. Stars glittered behind its shadowed figure, large feathery wings stretching widely.

_Probably just searching for rabbits, _she told herself while going back to practice.

Falcons and Hawks often tried to take kits from the nursery, but now since Sprucefrost built an underground cavern for the queens, they were more than protected enough to evade being prey.

"Go away!" she spat at the annoying bird, its call sounding as it neared Sprucefrost.

For a moment she began to think maybe the large predator of the sky was coming for her, but instead the light brown animal simply landed on a mound of earth Sprucefrost had created.

And that was when the brown-furred Zodiac gasped in shock as she caught a good look at the bird. Its eyes were a bright luminescent white, completely and utterly blank as a cloud-filled sky.

_"Hello Young one" _the bird flicked its head as Sprucefrost padded closer.

Apparently the falcon knew that she could hear different animals languages, but how?

"Hi" she spoke reluctantly, eyeing the the bird carefully and cautiously, her instincts telling her to run. But the white-eyed bird seemed to pull Sprucefrost ever closer, there was something about this animal, something...mysterious.

_"I have come to warn you of a rising tempest" _the falcon, a female, spoke slowly yet quickly at the same time. _"When the Moon of Ice rises" _it spoke with a foreign tongue, _"The eight sent from the stars will wage war." _

Sprucefrost perked her ears at the mention of the eight stars, the eight Zodiac's!

_"Four will be left standing, and those who are will be sent on a path to prevent chaos from descending onto the clans. These four hold the futures of all cats in their paws." _

_What? _Sprucefrost didn't care if the bird heard her or not, it could tell by the look sprawled on her face! Sent on a path to prevent chaos from descending onto the clans, what did that mean!?

"Please tell me more" she begged, urgency rushing through the Zodiacs veins. But the falcon didn't reply, it simply blinked its two white eyes, and turned to fly off into the cold night.

"Only four will be left..." she muttered softly as the image of the mysterious falcon faded into the indigo sky, "I have to be one of them!".

And that Sprucefrost did, if not for herself, but then for her unborn kits writhing inside of her enclosed belly. Sprucefrost was expecting Cloudedmoon's kits, and for that reason alone she couldn't and wouldn't be one of the Zodiacs to join StarClan prematurely.

She would fight until her last breath was taken for these kits. They were her life now, _and Sprucefrost was going to do whatever it took to protect them. _

_

* * *

_**A/N: Okay well here's a little sneak peak of Fear World just to get you guys hyped up :P enjoy!**

"What is this place?" Briarpaw asked out loud, fear starting to rise inside of her.

But then all at once, her breathing stopped as a single sound came from the rocks. A faint hissing slowly wreathed towards Briarpaw, the deadly sound spiraling towards her like a cloud of terror.

"No..." she whispered in shock, as flashbacks of the day she and her siblings were playing on the rocks near the outskirts of camp.

Standing up on both her back legs, trying to show her siblings how strong and big she was. And that was when a long shadow had spread out from behind Briarpaw, at first she thought it was just the shadow of a tree.

But then once Honeyfern leapt over her, Briarpaw knew something was wrong. She died for me, the words the golden warrior had screamed out when she was dieing still haunted the young apprentice to this day.

"My blood, it's on fire..." Briarpaw repeated quietly, slowing lifting her gaze to a long black figure slinking out from a crevice.


	27. Twenty Three: Smokespiral

**A/N: Yay fast update, here's Chapter 23! I know I said I'd double update if I reached 390 reviews, and I did, thank you all! But I'm trying to write as much as I can right now, and I'm barely half way done with the next chapter. So I might double update tonight depending on if I get a Red Bull or not, but It may just have to wait until tomorrow. **

**Sorry again, I'll do my best! But look on the bright side, only 5 more chapters left until the end, plus an Epilogue! I'm slowly writing the outline for...er....Zodiac 2, and its coming along nicely. I guess I can tell you now that there will be eight POV's, five of our favorite characters, and three new ones! Please review, can I reach 400? That'd be awesome :P**

**~Leo~**

**

* * *

****CHAPTER XXIII**

Small snow flakes dusted Hollowsong's dark brown pelt. Her tail wove slowly behind her, the tip of it stained with black fur.

The darkness was overwhelming as she and Ferretleap neared WindClan camp. With the clouds blocking out the moon, it was almost impossible to see.

"How much further?" she growled to the cream-striped warrior, shivering from the dark midnight air.

Ferretleap turned, "Not much further" he paused to gaze at her, "Stay here I'm going to see if anyone's still awake."

Hollowsong sighed as the WindClan tom swiftly padded into his own camp, he could at least have asked nicely. Honestly Hollowsong didn't really know why she was helping this crazed cat in the first place, it wasn't really Charredsoul's fault anyway.

But ThunderClan was the weakest of the clans, and if they were to be beaten with WindClan's help, then that meant more prey and territory for her own clan.

Through the blanket of darkness, Ferretleap soon appeared, giving his companion a brief nod to show that everything was alright. Picking up her frozen paws, Hollowsong followed Ferretleap into his own camp, Hollowsong was now tress-passing on another clans territory.

"Are you sure no one will find out I was here?" she asked nervously, staring dimly at the dens around her.

Ferretleap turned, "Of course not, through this snow you can't even smell a badger from a mouse. I'll make sure to cover your tracks so no one will find them."

The ShadowClan she-cat nodded reluctantly, for some reason she didn't hold much trust in Ferretleap, he just seemed so...insidious. Slowly through the snow covered moor, the two cats made their way over to a dense bracken guarded den.

It was enclosed with brambles and thorns, and on the opposite end, an ash tree lay on its side.

"What do we do?" the Zodiac whispered through the darkness, "I can't just walk in there without saying anything."

Ferretleap furrowed his brow, "I'll go in there and tell him we have a visitor, that's when you walk in." The WindClan tom didn't even give Hollowsong any time to prepare before he padded into the leaders layer.

_Just great, _Hollowsong looked on either side of her cautiously. _What if it doesn't work? What if Thistlestar doesn't listen to me and then he orders his warriors to hold me hostage? I'd be a failure to my clan! _

Thoughts of being banished from ShadowClan spiraled through the young she-cats mind, she couldn't let that happen. Hollowsong was going to make Thistlestar obey her, and then it would be three clans against one.

On the day they defeated ThunderClan, everyone would look to Hollowsong and know she was the one responsible for the victory, she would be a hero.

Breaking her train of thought, Hollowsong suddenly felt rather curious as Ferretleap waved his tail for her to enter. Pushing through the coiled ferns, Hollowsong entered the dimly lit den and was welcomed with a snarl.

"What's the meaning of this!?" immediately Thistlestar stood to his feet, fangs baring and ears back. "Ferretleap why have you brought this ShadowClan cat into my den? Are you betraying your clan?" the white-furred leader held a baffled expression.

"No" Ferretleap stepped forward brazenly, "You're the one betraying your clan Thistlestar."

The leader bared his fangs at the accusation, as Ferretleap paced around the darkening den.

"ThunderClan destroyed our home, they are the reason my sister is dead!" his eyes burned with a fury that frightened even Hollowsong, "And your only reason for not fighting with the other clans, is because some elder thats pretty much dead saved your life as a kit? That is betrayal."

The enraged cat didn't even give his leader a moment to respond, as he motioned for Hollowsong to use her power. Taking a deep breath, the brown warrior padded towards Thistlestar, it was time.

"Look me in the eyes" she growled slowly.

The white leader turned with a snarl, "You'll never get me to join ShadowClan rat!" he hissed, swotting a paw across her face. But Hollowsong didn't even feel it as she lured Thistlestar into her trance, it was going to work.

"On the first full moon of Leaf-Bare" she growled, "In three sunrises you will join RiverClan and ShadowClan in attacking ThunderClan. You must do this because they are evil and are plotting to destroy your clan, they must be annihilated."

The tom's amber eyes soon became pitch black orbs, as dark as a crevice beneath the earths core. He stood completely still for a moment, eyes wide open and staring at Hollowsong.

And then Thistlestar's eyes returned to normal, and he looked both cats up and down.

"Yes" he nodded quickly, "ThunderClan are evil, we must attack first."

* * *

An owl perched in a Rowan tree gazed down at Umbershade. Its two round amber eyes streamed through the darkness, staring at him intently.

The shadows wreathing around the pitch black tom made Umbershade almost completely invisible, but not invisible enough for an Owl. He had been trying to find Hollowsong for quite a while now, but he lost his sisters scent when it drifted towards the lake.

_She's up to no good, _he thought silently, _Hollowsong is planning something, something bad. _And whatever she was doing, Umbershade bet his life that it had something to do with this war of the Zodiacs.

"Maybe she's the one that causes four of us to die" he spoke out loud, an idea sparking in his mind.

If that was Hollowsong's intention, then Umbershade had to do exactly what Bluecloud told him to, he had to hone his power. Quickly pacing back towards ShadowClan camp, the young warrior knew he already had two ShadowClan cats to help him train.

"Moonwater!" he caught the lithe silver she-cat slipping out of the nursery, her blue eyes speckled with white.

"Oh hello Umbershade" she meowed sweetly, "Would you mind watching Beaverkit and Flintkit for me? I was going to take a walk with Scorchstar."

The queens mate and leader was waiting at the Furze-Tunnel, he was the father of her kits.

"Of course" he bent his head, "I'll show them my power, they always love that."

Moonwater smiled and thanked him again, padding off to walk through the snow covered forest with Scorchstar. Now the kits weren't exactly the easiest to watch over, but they did have a nifty habit of finding him in the darkness.

"Beaverkit, Flintkit!" he called, and almost immediately heard the pitter patter of footsteps racing outside.

Flintkit was an easy enough kit to watch over, he was curious yet kind as well, and always watched out for younger kits. Beaverkit on the other hand, was sent from the Dark Forest to cause destruction onto the queens and warriors that had to watch over her.

Umbershade was of course thinking about the incident with the beavers down by the lake, she had let a patrol consisting of six kits to fight them off, at two-moons nonetheless.

And then there was the incident last moon with the bat attack. Beaverkit had gotten a nasty bite on the ear, but she also brought home a peculiar dinner for the queens and elders.

"Can we play the Shadows game?" Flintkit asked excitedly, his orange eyes the same shade as his fathers.

"That's exactly why I brought you here. You and Beaverkit....Hey where'd she go?" Umbershade looked in the direction of where the little kit just was, but she had disappeared.

"Beaverkit!" Flintkit called, starting to get annoyed, "Come on we're going to play the Shadows game". The black warrior followed Flintkit who has obviously picked up her scent, and trekked beyond the camp wall.

"I think she's up there" Flintkit sniffed, the young tom had a remarkable sense of smell, he would make a great tracker in the future. With a sigh, Umbershade walked until he saw the familiar brown pelt of Beaverkit, and walked forward to pick her up by the scruff.

"I found a praying mantis!" she squeaked, "I'll have to take this home to show Appleleaf's kits."

Just as he moved forward, Beaverkit bent down to grasp the green insect in her jaws, but got a nasty surprise as its scythe hooked into her nose.

"Ow...OW! Get if off!" she squealed like a rabbit with its head chopped off, racing around in an endless amount of circles.

"Oh for StarClan's sake" Umbershade moved forward quickly to try and get the nasty insect off of the kits nose, but she kept moving and wouldn't sit still.

"Stop moving!" he growled, trying to get a firm grasp on the green bug, but still nothing worked.

Feeling angered at the kits ignorance and stupidity, Umbershade could feel something building up inside of him. And just as Beaverkit looked him in the eye pleadingly, a gray mass escaped from Umbershade's black eyes.

The smoke spiraled swiftly through the gap between him and the kit, and absorbed into Beaverkit's light hazel eyes. All at once the kit paused like a frozen acorn, not even flicking an ear or twitching a whisker.

_What in StarClan's name!? _Was that smoke that just came out of Umbershade's eyes?

"Oh StarClan let her be okay" he prayed to the sky, moving forward to examine the she-cat.

Her nostrils flared every other second, so obviously she was still breathing, just frozen in time. Taking advantage of the momentary calmness, Umbershade reached forward to bite off the mantis, and dropped its small body onto the ground.

And then all at once Beaverkit began to move again, as if nothing ever happen.

"Ow, get it off! Please Umbershade it hurts" the kit was still racing in circles, not yet realizing the insect was already off.

"That was awesome!" Flintkit meowed his praise, "Do it again! Try it on me!".

Umbershade simply turned his black colored eyes into the sky, he finally had another power, and this time it was useful! So in a battle Umbershade would be able to freeze his enemies and then attack, but what about Hollowsong?

_What was to become of Hollowsong if Umbershade won this war? _

_

* * *

_

**A/N: I'll try to push this next chapter out, but I'm kind of depressed after watching the Season finale of Dexter! WHY RITA!? For those of you who don't watch Dexter, please disregard that last statement. Oh and another thing, I'm currently writing my own Horror Story, called Offerings. Want to know what its about? Here's a blurb...**

_Synopsis: When Remy and Tristan, a newly married couple, travel to South Africa for their Honeymoon, they take a tour into the Sudwala Caves. Traveling into the 3800 Million year old cavern, Remy and Tristan soon find them selves lost, and the tour guide has left without them. But what will happen when something or someone begins stalking them, taunting them constantly with bones, human or animal. Will they be able to make it out before this Psychopath adds them to his collection? His collection of offerings....._


	28. Twenty Four: Blacklight

**A/N: Okay short chapter alert! But at least its over 1,000 :P Well I just managed to pop out this chapter before Dinner, I broke my Nip/Tuck marathon just to make you guys happy! This show really is awesome, hmm maybe I'll make a warriors fic about "The Carver". But I doubt many of you know what I'm talking about, do any of you watch Nip/Tuck? **

**Anyway we're down to the final chapters of this fic, and the next chapter begins with the start of the war! And for the next four chapters, one Zodiac will meet there fate by the end? Only I know..... Review please! Can I reach 420? **

**~Leo~**

**

* * *

****CHAPTER XXIV**

"You can't go through with this battle!"Otterpool pleaded, but nothing was working. It was only three days from the full moon, and she was trying to convince Mallowstar not to fight.

"It is the only way to ensure my clan has enough food for the future" he meowed strongly, "And as your leader Otterpool I am telling you to drop it now, you are a RiverClan warrior, not a ThunderClan rat."

The light brown tom infuriated Otterpool, he expected her to fight in this battle and treated her like this? Giving him a sharp glare, Otterpool briefly considered cursing him and RiverClan, and leaving to go live somewhere less dramatic.

_No, I can't do that. I have to stay here and ensure that my clan is protected. _And if any of this talk of omens was true, then if Otterpool was to survive, then it was for a reason.

The four Zodiacs who survived were supposed to bring peace to the clans right? Save them from something bad? Then how was Otterpool supposed to do that if she simply ran away and abandoned her duties?

"You can't do this, innocent cats will die! I won't let you" thoughts drifted back to Otterpool of her sister and mother, Dawnlight was expecting kits soon!

And what if something happened to Rushfall or StarClan forbid her mother Berryheart, Otterpool couldn't and wouldn't let that happen.

"There's no need to wory" he growled quietly, "They won't be fighting in this battle."

Otterpool rose her head, "They...they won't?".

If the cats of RiverClan weren't going to fight against ThunderClan, then who was?

"You are" the words escaped Mallowstar's mouth like an adders hiss, "We have six Zodiacs, and they only have two. The six of you are going to do all the fighting yourself."

_Fox-dung I will! _Otterpool wanted to slash her silver claws across her leaders face, but had just enough restraint to not do so. There was no way ThunderClan could win if all six of the Zodiacs were going to fight against Charredsoul and Bluecloud.

_Charredsoul can only fight if there's fire nearby, and its the middle of Leaf-Bare. _The RiverClan she-cat didn't even know if Bluecloud had a power other than to speak with StarClan, and didn't all Medicine Cats have that gift?

"It's going to be a massacre" she whispered, not realizing Mallowstar was still listening.

"I don't intend it to be" he meowed with a tinge of emotion, "I never wanted ThunderClan to get exterminated, but seeing as they are the weakest, it is my duty as Clan leader of RiverClan to do so."

The Zodiac lifted her head grimly after hearing his words, "I didn't know it was a clan leaders duty to massacre other cats for no good reason. Now I have a reason to never become leader."

And with a glare full of disgust, Otterpool turned in the direction of the Medicine Cats den. She had never met a cat so cold hearted in her life! Even Scorchstar was nicer than him, at least the leader of ShadowClan had compassion, he had a mate and kits.

_Maybe Rushfall knows what our future holds, _if anyone did it would be him! Rushing into the small island den, Otterpool instantly bolted into a black and beige pelt.

"Weaselpaw" she growled, as the small she-cat clawed embarrassingly to get off the ground.

"Sorry" the young Medicine Cat apprentice meowed, "I...I shouldn't have been standing at the entrance." Submissively, young Weaselpaw picked up the leaves she dropped, and padded to the back of the den.

"Why are you here knocking over my apprentice?" the small gray and white Medicine Cat growled with a smile, "Jealous that I have one and you don't?".

Otterpool snorted, "Yeah I'm jealous of a cat whose seven-moon old apprentice is bigger than he is" she flicked her tail playfully at his small stature.

But then the memory of her fight with Mallowstar resurfaced, she had to find out if Rushfall knew anything.

"No I don't know whats going to happen" he answered her question, "But my pads have been burning all day, and the only auras I see from cats are black."

That definitely wasn't good, "What does the color black mean?".

Rushfall lifted his stone-cold cold gaze, his eyes flickered somberly, "It means death."

* * *

Two squirrels were fighting over an acorn as Rushfall passed by an Oak Tree. They chattered at him angrily, scaling the brown mass until they reached a safe enough length.

"Don't worry" he growled while sneering at them, "I have more important things to fret about then finding a good meal."

The darkness of night hovered over the small tabbies head, the moon was almost completely circular. _Just two more nights, and by then four of us will be dead. _It hadn't quite set in to the Medicine Cat that he might not survive this war.

In fact he probably wouldn't, Rushfall didn't necessarily have the most powerful gifts of the Zodiacs. What was he going to do, tell them how they were going to die?

By then it would be moons after they killed him! His mind thinking of the ways he would be killed, Rushfall barely noticed the Moon Pool only fox-lengths ahead of him.

He hadn't traveled here at the Half Moon because of a blizzard, but now was as good a time as any to seek help from his ancestors.

"I might just see you soon enough" he sneered at the stars lit brightly in the sky, slipping into the gray mass of the Moon Pool.

The thunderous roar of the waterfall rung in his light gray ears, its growl as angry as a Lions. The mist sprung onto his fur like tiny drops of rain, the sound soothed Rushfall.

"Hello" a voice made him jump like a frightened starling.

"Oh, hi Bluecloud" he meowed solemnly, looking at the blue-gray Zodiac with guilt. He felt guilty that he had no way of stopping this battle, certainly some of her clan mates would be lost.

"It's hard to believe its been almost twelve-moons since we were born" her meow bounced off the walls like sparkling rays of moonlight.

Rushfall looked down at his paws embarrassingly, as she stared straight at him with her silver orb-like eyes.

"Don't underestimate ThunderClan" she told him with a flick of her tail, "Just because we're outnumbered three to one doesn't mean we don't have a chance. We do have Charredsoul after all."

The gray and white Medicine Cat turned, "What do you mean? I thought he could only use his power if he was near fire? Hows he going to find any in the middle of Leaf-Bare?".

Bluecloud lowered her eyesight, "He doesn't need fire anymore. He can create it" she sighed contemptuously, "Charredsoul is a weapon that could destroy the whole Forest Rushfall, you have to stop this war."

His claws scratched against the base of the cave, "But how? Mallowstar's already made up his mind. And even if I somehow managed to convince him, there's still ShadowClan and WindClan."

It was practically impossible to stop this war only two Nightfalls away, and Rushfall certainly wasn't the cat to accomplish it.

"You have to beg him to rethink this" Bluecloud told him, "It's the only way to prevent this war destined by StarClan. It could be the difference between life or death."

The look in her eyes seemed to hold knowledge not even he could understand, what this Medicine Cat was saying, was the truth. But how was Rushfall going to prevent this war from happening, would he be able to stop the destiny StarClan laid out for him?

_ Did he even have a destiny? _

_

* * *

_**A/N: For the final vote? Who should live, who should die!? **

**1.) Charredsoul/Bluecloud**

**2.) Hollowsong/Umbershade**

**3.) Sprucefrost/Ferretleap**

**4.) Rushfall/Otterpool  
**


	29. Twenty Five: Deathmoon

**A/N: Okay now here's where the real action starts! I'm streaming through this story, *Sighs* if only I could finish Sands of Chaos this fast. Who knows I might! Well this is where the war begins, from Chapter 25-28, four of the Zodiacs WILL die! Some of you were right on your predictions and some of you were wrong....hmm....I might just throw in a twist to throw all of you off! **

**Well I'm working on the outline for the sequel now, which finally has a title but I won't tell you until after the Epilogue is posted. But I can give you a hint of a new character in it, her name is Meadowkit! Such a cute name....anyway I'm off to bid for a Nintendo DS Lite on ebay, and maybe Pokemon Platinum. :P**

**~Leo~**

**

* * *

****CHAPTER XXV**

Moonlight shining from the first full moon of Leaf-bare outlined the dark shadow of Charredsoul's body. He stood atop the rocky ridge surrounding ThunderClan camp, blazing eyes watching for any sign of pelts moving through the forest.

It was his job both as deputy and as Zodiac to protect ThunderClan, and Charredsoul would give his life to ensure they weren't harmed. All of the kits, queens and elders had been escorted out of camp towards the Moon Pool.

The warriors stood outside the camps wall in case cats other than the Zodiacs attacked. Basically Charredsoul was the only thing standing between ThunderClan and certain death. Bluecloud couldn't fight, she had no power to fight with!

Straining his eyes to look through the darkness, Charredsoul could just faintly see tiny pelts in the distance, they were heading towards the entrance.

"Time to show them ThunderClan isn't to be reckoned with" he growled sharply, flicking his tail as a fire ball flew towards the Thorn-Barrier.

It was quite simple really to create fire, and it worked even better if Charredsoul was angry. Images of the fire he first created over towards WindClan camp flashed through his mind.

This had all happened because WindClan and Ferretleap refused to forgive him an his clan for the destruction of their home. He didn't even know why ShadowClan and RiverClan were doing this, perhaps out of fear of his power?

_Well they do have something to be afraid of, _he growled silently, seeing one cat break through the fire. But than in an instant the cat disappeared, only to reappear a split second later directly next to Charredsoul.

"Ferretleap!" he snarled angrily, this battle was all his fault!

Suddenly the burning rage inside of Charredsoul began to rise, he could feel his blood boiling almost to the point it felt like an inferno inside him. That was when his paws and tail erupted with burning crimson flames, his long sharp claws scorching hot.

"You don't intimidate me!" the WindClan tom spat, turning in a quick gesture and disappearing in a flash.

How was Charredsoul supposed to catch him if he kept vanishing? This was going to be a long night. Peering on all sides of him, the Zodiac spat with rage at no sight of the tom.

"What are you to scared of me!?" he yowled through the darkness, "Come out here and fight! Are you a Zodiac or a milk fed kit?". Hopefully Charredsoul's taunts would work, he knew all the words to use to anger the other Zodiac.

"You cold hearted rat!" a yowl broke the silence. Without even seeing the flash, Charredsoul felt a tremendous force slam into his side.

"No!" he yowled as his paws slipped off the rocky ridge and he fell towards the ground. J

ust managing to right his body before impact, Charredsoul landed roughly on the grass. The force was that of a thousand badgers ramming into his body, the air was knocked straight out of the ginger toms lungs.

"I will be the Zodiac left standing!" the sinful words wreathed around Charredsoul, as the bad breathed tom whispered into Charredsoul's ear.

"Go ahead kill me!" he spat with a cough, "If you're going to be the almighty Zodiac still alive in the end, then do your job, finish me off!".

The ginger deputy could still feel the burning rage rising in his body, but he was paralyzed to do anything about it. He could faintly see the outline of Ferretleap underneath the moonlight,

"No....I think I'll take care of some of your defenseless clan mates after all. Maybe that brother of mother of yours, after all its because of you that my sisters dead."

"No it isn't!" he spat while thinking of his family, "I was an apprentice, it was an accident. Not to mention your sister was killed by a dog, there was nothing anyone could do to prevent it!".

Couldn't this deranged cat see that all of this was in his head? Charredsoul had destroyed their other camp, but in return Dovestar had given them new land to call home!

"Come catch me if you can" the WindClan tom taunted in his ear, refusing to reply to Charredsoul's comment.

And the last thing the paralyzed tom saw before Ferretleap flashed away, was more and more pelts entering through ThunderClan camp. It was time to fight.

* * *

Crimson light flickered as Blucloud gazed from inside the Medicine Cats den. Her silver-blue eyes faintly reflected the burning shades, her pelt illuminating with orange, yellow, even red colors.

She stood calmly as a few cats entered the camp, Heathershine and the other queens and kits were safe, that was all that mattered. And now that Charredsoul was chasing after Ferretleap, Bluecloud was left completely alone within ThunderClan camp.

She felt no real fear of what was to happen, no fear whatsoever. Not since StarClan and Jayfeather told her about her past, that she was in fact a reincarnation of Bluestar the ancient leader, and that she was sent to be the Guardian of the Zodiacs.

She hadn't quite realized what that meant until only moments ago as a vision flashed through her head, the outcome of todays battle was more important than any other living cat realized.

"Bluecloud!" she jumped slightly as a black furred Umbershade appeared out of the shadows.

His fur was matted with thorns and briars, and he was breathing heavily as if he ran a great distance to get here.

"What is it?" she asked quietly, only caring if something was wrong with either him or the queens and kits.

"I came here as quick as I could. I spoke with most of the other Zodiacs, Sprucefrost, Otterpool and Rushfall are on our side."

The Medicine Cat lifted her gaze, "And Hollowsong? What about the other Zodiac of ShadowClan?".

The dark she-cats brother lowered his head, "Scorchstar has recruited her as a weapon for ShadowClan. He's going to use her to destroy ThunderClan, she's been sent here to kill."

Bluecloud didn't respond, she only nodded sadly. Hollowsong had a power that could be used for good, but she had chosen the wrong path, the path of evil.

_As did Ferretleap, _she thought as a blur flew through the tree lines, an angry Charredsoul throwing Fire Balls every which way.

"If he Isn't careful he'll burn down the whole forest!" Umbershade spat as one ball of fire landed in the center of camp.

And that was when Bluecloud spotted tiny Nightkit crouching by the flames, mewling pitifully for his mother Mothspots. Without even a second thought, the blue-gray Medicine Cat exited the den swiftly, padding towards the flames.

"Are you mad!?" Umbershade yowled back at her, his pelt disappearing into the shadows, "Be careful Bluecloud!".

She barely heard the ShadowClan tom of the roaring fire only a fox-length away. Smoke drifted around her, if Bluecloud didn't hurry then Nightkit would suffocate.

Intent on saving the kit, the ThunderClan she-cat growled in fury as a cat blocked her from Nightkit.

"Well look who it is" Hollowsong sneered, "Bluecloud shouldn't you be out with the other defenseless cats? I thought you were actually an opponent that would put up a fight."

The shiny she-cat growled, "If you're going to kill me Hollowsong, then wait a minute, let me save Nightkit first."

"Ah ah ah" the she-cat blocked her exit, "I think I want to test out my power first. But who should I test it on?" she glanced back at the dying black furred kit.

"If you touch one hair on him I swear I'll kill you myself!" she roared like a lion, a jolt of energy shooting out of her and throwing Hollowsong high into the sky.

To shocked from what just happened, Bluecloud raced forward and took Nightkit by the scruff. She quickly raced over to the queens and handed him to Mothspots.

"Oh thank you" she comforted her frightened kit, as Bluecloud looked back at the battlefield. Less than a second later, Hollowsong landed back onto the ground, a grunt of pain sounding from her body.

"Serves you right" she growled, padding over to the ShadowClan cat. Seeing her broken paw, Bluecloud felt a need to heal her, she had never turned a cat in pain away before.

"Here let me get some poppy and cobwebs" she meowed while looking Hollowsong in the eye.

The injured cats eyes flickered as she opened her mouth, "Step into the fire, it won't hurt you."

Bluecloud stopped suddenly, she was no longer in control of her body. She didn't even curse Hollowsong's name as she neared the inferno, this was her destiny after all.

"Goodbye Heathershine!" she yowled through the darkness, hoping her sister could hear her.

_I'll always love you, _she felt a sense of sadness, how would her mother and siblings take her death? She didn't have time to think about that, Bluecloud was less than a fox-length from the fire.

"I'm coming StarClan" she meowed while closing her eyes contently, walking against her will into the bright flickering flames.

_One Zodiac had finally met her fate, only three left. _

_

* * *

_**A/N: So were you happy with who I chose to die? **

**1.) Yup, great choice! I love Charredsoul**

**2.) No, you stupid guy**

**3.) Eh...I don't really care  
**


	30. Twenty Six: Quakeslam

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews guys, wow this is my most reviewed story ever! Ah well I've finally finished this story, I only have the epilogue to write. I'm debating whether or not I should give you a break in between Zodiac and the sequel and try to work on Sands of Chaos, or just to focus on the sequel. **

**Anyway here's the twist I was talking about, in the end its a real shocker :P Well please review everyone, and if you do, you get a Charredsoul plushy! :)**

**~Leo~**

**

* * *

****CHAPTER XXVI**

Racing around the clearing like a flash of lightning, Ferretleap headed towards the tree line. Turning back, he spotted a flame pawed Charredsoul bounding swiftly after him, but Ferretleap was by far the fastest.

In a blur he leapt into a tall standing Ash Tree, turning back down to laugh at Charredsoul who was stuck at the bottom.

"Not so tough now are we flamey?" he taunted from the safety of the branch.

He could hear angry growls from the fiery Zodiac below, and that made Ferretleap laugh even more. But he stopped laughing as a fire ball came shooting his way, bursting the ash tree into tiny splinters.

"Woah!" he yelled, quickly springing to another branch, that was a close call. Ferretleap had to be more alert, apparently there was no limit as to how high or far those fire balls could be thrown.

"I think I'll make a quick exit" he said to himself just as another ball of fire flew towards him, splintering the tree just as Ferretleap headed off towards WindClan territory.

_Even If I don't beat him myself, _the tom thought as he bounded through the tree tops, _Hollowsong will finish him off for me. _

The ShadowClan cat had already killed Bluecloud, although Ferretleap hadn't expected that, she was an innocent cat that didn't deserve a death so painful.

_But Charredsoul certainly does, _and if Hollowsong succeeded, then it would be as painful as Spottedpaw's death. Maybe even worse.

Quickly checking through the darkness to see if Charredsoul was following him, Ferretleap soon became confused. There was no sign of the Zodiac whatsoever.

"Ha, he probably gave up" the cream striped tom began to chuckled, just as he turned his vision forward.

The WindClan Zodiac had no time to swerve as a tall branch loomed directly in front of him. The impact was that worse than a thousand monsters colliding with his pelt, it was excruciating.

Blackness engulfed Ferretleap's vision as he fell out of the tree tops, his body becoming battered by the branches it hit on the way down. He didn't even feel the impact on earth, no, Ferretleap had already blacked out by then.

The unconscious tom lay completely still, the cold leaf-bare air ruffling his fur. This was the quietest Ferretleap had ever been in his life, you could even hear the faint flickering of fire in the distance.

But that fire was soon approaching, a crimson light could be seen through the darkness. Paw steps lit with fire lay behind Charredsoul as he trekked towards the fallen WindClan Zodiac, a glint of delight in his amber eyes.

The pain surged through his body all at once as Ferretleap faintly opened one eye lid.

_What....What happened? _He was to weak to even speak, his bones twisted awkwardly like the roots of a tree.

"Well what do we have here?" the voice of his worst enemy wreathed through the cold darkness, spiraling into Ferretleap's lightning bolt ear.

He coughed up blood as he tried to right himself, but the toms legs were badly broken. Looking into Charredsoul's eyes, he detected a tinge of pity from the ThunderClan Zodiac.

"I'm sorry it ended like this" Charredsoul finally meowed, letting his fiery paws die down, "I never wanted this."

Ferretleap coughed up more dark crimson blood, "Spare me the speech....Just kill me already."

The pain was to much, the Zodiac just wanted to be in StarClan already, he wanted to be with Spottedpaw and Rosefern. His mother had also died a moon after Spottedpaw, supposedly she couldn't handle her only daughters death, and walked onto the Thunderpath.

"I'll make it quick" Charredsoul promised, staring in pity at the deformed and broken warrior, who was whining in pain.

Ferretleap didn't even try and fight as the Zodiac sunk his teeth into his cream-furred throat, in fact he welcomed the numbing feeling. Blood trickled like a waterfall onto the pure white snow, staining in a deep amaranthine shade as it melted through.

The last thing Ferretleap saw before he died and went to StarClan, was a falling star descending from the sky. He wasn't the true Zodiac after all, but Sprucefrost was.

* * *

"Stop it!" a yowl came from the Zodaic with the power to move earth, her green eyes pleading the cats around her to stop fighting.

It wasn't just the Zodiacs battle anymore, cats of all sizes and ages were now fighting. It seemed RiverClan and ShadowClan had combined as one in the battle, turning to fighting a defenseless ThunderClan.

Only moments ago, Sunstrike had come with orders for WindClan to help ThunderClan, apparently Thistlestar had changed his mind.

A flash of fur broke Sprucefrost from her trance, it was Diamondpaw and Fierypaw fighting. Didn't they know both their clans were fighting as one?

"Stop fighting!" she growled at the apprentices, but Diamondpaw didn't listen and bounded forward to attack the ginger apprentice.

_Oh StarClan what am I to do? _She didn't want to hurt any cats with her power, but that seemed the only option that was possible at this point in the battle.

Eyeing two large groups of ThunderClan and ShadowClan cats about to throw themselves at each other, Sprucefrost slammed her paw down hard onto the earth.

A loud rumble sounded as her paw collided with the ground, and a crack soon split through the surface. It ran down until it divided evenly between the two groups, opening up a large crevice so neither could make it to the other side.

"Well at least that worked" Sprucefrost sighed, giving a caring look down at her slightly large belly.

She was almost two-moons along, but still not much of a bump showed.

_Maybe I won't have many kits, _she thought, unlike one queen who had a litter of eight. Turning her gaze to see if there were anymore unruly fights to break up, Sprucefrost's light jade eyes settled on a scorched body lying still on the ground.

"No...." her voice faded into a whisper as she padded over to the death body. Even though the fur was scorched black, she still knew who this cat was, Bluecloud.

"You savage brute!" she growled with a mothers fury, turning her eyes onto Hollowsong who stood with a devilish smile over Bluecloud's body.

Succombed with a rage worse than that of a rabid fox, Sprucefrost slammed both her front paws onto the earth with tremendous force. An earth quake ran through the ground, breaking and crumbling the earth beneath Hollowsong.

Her screech faded as the surface dropped and she felt into its midst. But that wasn't enough for Sprucefrost, and without thinking for a second of her unborn kits, she threw herself into the whole after the ShadowClan she-cat.

She fell a few fox-lengths, quickly un-sheathing her claws as she made contact with the brown-furred cat.

"You're a soulless vixen!" she growled, slashing through her fur.

"Get off of me!" Hollowsong struggled underneath the she-cats grasp, writhing like an adder.

But Sprucefrost wouldn't let her go, not after she killed such a sweet and precious cat like Bluecloud. She wanted to see the horror in Hollowsong's eyes as she knew that her death was coming, so she looked into the cats hazel iris's.

"Take me out of this trench" Hollowsong's voice spiraled into her ears, "And throw yourself into the fire."

Suddenly all the fury Sprucefrost held vanished, her mind soon became completely blank. Flicking her tail absently, the two cats began to raise up from the core of the earth.

Sprucefrost brought them to the surface of the ground, where cats still battled. Her eyes drifted onto the first burning patch of fire she saw, she need to walk into it.

_No, _she tried to move her paws but nothing worked, _I don't want to die. I can't die! _

This was Hollowsong's power no doubt, she never realized how forceful and strong it was. But Sprucefrost couldn't die yet! She had to wait until her kits were born, couldn't StarClan just give her half a moon?

The flames seemed to call to the she-cat as she padded towards them, the lips of the fire lapped at her like a lizard's tongue. This was it, Sprucefrost was going to die, she was going to burn to death, and so were her kits.

But just as her fur began to scorched off, a force knocked Sprucefrost away from the inferno, and broke the trance. She fell to the ground gently, a patch of snow absorbing the impact.

"Umbershade!" she gasped as the black tom stood over her, "Thank you....you saved my life!".

He bowed his head, "I can't let my sister take anyone else's life, this has to end now. Go save yourself, you need to leave for your kits."

Sprucefrost hadn't told Umbdershade she was pregnant, but it was blatantly obvious just by looking at her stomach.

"Thank you" she meowed with the upmost of joy and gratitude, nodding to the black tom as she exited ThunderClan camp.

It was now brother versus sister, and Sprucefrost needed to leave this battle. If not for her own life, but for her kits, she would never risk their lives like that again.

But just as she exited the camps barrier, a loud crashing sound came from above. And that was when Sprucefrost widened her eyes as a branch engulfed with flames came flying in her direction.

She tried to run but it was to late, and the fiery branch slammed right into her, _killing her on impact. _

_

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_**A/N: Okay so now you all probably want to tie me to a chair and throw feral cats on me right? Well before you do that you might want to wait until the next chapter, just sayin.... Anyway so what did you think? DROP A REVIEW! Oh and a new poll on my profile! Peace.**


	31. Twenty Seven: Brightshine

**A/N: Okay well to say the least you all probably hate me after last chapter, but your all probably going to love me after reading this chapters! Well I'm finally on Winter Break, so I'll be writing a lot this week. Maybe next week, although I'm going to New York for about four days, so....**

**Anyway I saw Avatar 3D today, omg it was so epic and amazing! Best movie I've seen in years, even beats Lord of the Rings! But it also has Zoe Saldana in it so that helps :P Oh and just to let you guys no, I'm not a her or a she, I'm a him or a he lol I know most of the people on Warriors here are girls, but not meh! Oh and I'll be 17 in March, yay! Enough babbling please review!**

**~Leo~**

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****CHAPTER XXVII**

The darkness radiating from Hollowsong's heart completely took over her body,she was never going to stop until all the Zodiacs were dead. The round moon in the sky soon began to flicker on the ground as clouds dispersed over its surface, she knew StarClan was angry.

_Well those dead-brains will just have to get over it, _they'd have more clan mates coming soon.

"Why are you doing this?" a snarl came from Umbershade who was staring at his sister with a great fury, "How did you become so...so heartless? You're a monster!".

Hollowsong snorted, "The real monster is you Umbershade" she stepped forward slowly. "You are a ShadowClan warrior correct?" she furrowed her brow, "Or have you forgotten that as well. You're a betrayer to your clan, and that makes you no better than an ant I can kill in a second."

Her eyes burned intensely at her black-furred brother, there could only be one true Zodiac of ShadowClan.

A crash sounded from the border of the forest, distracting both brother and sister. Hollowsong could faintly see through the darkness, a large branch lying on top of a lifeless figure.

"Sprucefrost, no!" Umbershade yowled helplessly, the final WindClan Zodiac was dead. "This isn't over" the black tom growled to his sister, "You need to stop this or I'm going to stop you myself".

Hollowsong simply rolled her eyes as Umbershade ran to the dead Zodiac, one less cat for her to worry about. Looking around the scorched clearing, Hollowsong quickly stepped aside as more fireballs came flying out of the air.

Charredsoul had gone to say the least, crazy, after finding Bluecloud's body, now he was trying to kill anyone other than ThunderClan or WindClan.

_And I'm trying to kill anyone, _she sneered silently, searching for her next prey.

The remaining Zodiacs were prey, and Hollowsong was a predator. A predator with a power greater than even StarClan, a power that could command cats to their death, and they would listen obediently.

"Quick, hurry!" she turned her gaze to see Rushfall herding a group of kits and apprentices out of the camp, his small gray and white fur speckled with snow.

"This should be easy" she growled while licking her fangs, slowly walking over to the Medicine Cat. Rushfall didn't budge a mouse-length as the brown cat walked forward, his gray eyes set on her pelt.

"I knew it was going to come to this" he finally meowed, "I know what both of our fates are."

Instantly Hollowsong's attention spiked, "Tell me, maybe I'll spare your life if you do."

She had no intention whatsoever to hold up her bargain, but Hollowsong couldn't help but want to at least find out what was in store for the future. Rushfall chuckled slightly,

"Well let's just say we're both going to die tonight" he paused while glaring forward, "But at least I'll be in StarClan."

His words sent shivers down Hollowsong's spine, why wouldn't she be in StarClan? But then she remembered the stories Tigerheart and Flametail used to tell her as a kit, of a place called The Dark Forest.

It was the opposite of StarClan, where cats that have committed wrongs in their lives went after death. It was a dark and grizzly place from what she remembered, you were sent to walk alone in darkness for eternity.

_It's just elder tales, _she through the story from her mind, and turned with a sharp toothed smile onto Rushfall.

"Throw yourself off the ridge" she growled without emotion whatsoever, her eyes turning Rushfall's stone-gray iris's into black orbs. At first the small Medicine Cat didn't respond to her command, he simply stared down at his pad and exchanged a quick glance with Hollowsong.

"I said throw yourself off the ridge" her voice grew louder as she became aggravated, why wasn't it working?

Her aggravation soon faded as Rushfall became as frozen as berries in Leaf-Bare, and began to climb the rocky wall.

_After this, only three more. _

There was still that cat Otterpool to take care of, and of course Charredsoul. _He's going to be a challenge, _she rose her head to the black sky, where balls of fire came shooting onto the scorched ground.

"And then Umbershade" this time she spoke the name out loud, her own brother.

Could Hollowsong really kill her own flesh and blood? It wasn't Scorchstar's orders to kill him, but if he didn't die, then that meant Hollowsong had to.

Rocks tumbling off the ridge distracted Hollowsong from her dark thoughts, as Rushfall stood at the edge of the cliff. Without even a second to pause, the gray and white Medicine Cat flung himself off the ridge, flying through the air like a falcon.

He hit the ground with a sickening crunch, dead on impact. Hollowsong couldn't help but feel a slight sense of guilt as she look at the dead cat, he was a Medicine Cat after all.

"It's over now" she whispered in the darkness, "And now that I've killed him, only three Zodiacs left."

Hollowsong _was _going to be the one left standing, she was absolutely sure of it.

* * *

Numbly walking over to the body of Sprucefrost, the ShadowClan tom felt his eyes beginning to water. Not only had she been killed by the branch, but her unborn kits as well.

"This is what StarClan had planned for you?" he spoke quietly while bending down to look closely at the dead she-cat.

If this was StarClan's doing, then Umbershade was almost positive he had no faith or respect for his ancestors.

With one last goodbye to his long gone friend, Umbershade leaned forward to shut her eye lids which hung wide open in terror. But just as he did a bright white light made him jump back a fox-length.

"What in StarClan's name...." it wasn't a question more like a statement.

Sprucefrost's belly began to glow with a bright silvery light, growing into a luminous shine even greater than if the moon was right in front of Umbershade.

He had to close his pitch black eyes to not be blinded by the shimmering light, it was....unbelievable!

Opening his eyes slowly, Umbershade felt a feeling of serenity creep over him. This light...it was something pure, something good. It began to fade slowly into faint shimmers, until once again Umbershade was staring at Sprucefrost's dead body.

Leaning forward once again to close her eye lids, the tom hissed in fright as she blinked.

"Sprucefrost!" he gasped with sure shock and joy, "You're....you're alive!".

The brown WindClan queen lifted herself off the ground, bright green eyes fluttering in confusion.

"I'm fine" she spoke strongly, brushing the cinders off of her pelt, "Go, find Hollowsong. She needs to be stopped."

Still in complete shock, Umbershade pressed his muzzle into the once dead she-cats flank. "Be careful" he meowed, still unable to believe what had just happened. Sprucefrost bent her head in goodbye, as she walked perfectly fine out into the forest, heading in the direction of WindClan.

_I don't have time to think about what just happened, _he yelled at himself, _Hollowsong is going to kill more cats if I don't stop her. Maybe even me..._

His pads were covered with the ash from burnt trees and grass. The gray powder mixed in with the snow began to mat his fur in clumps, it was almost like mud. The gray snow soon began to fade into a dark crimson shade, the color of blood.

"Oh no" Umbershade whispered coldly, seeing the still body of Rushfall up ahead.

And none other than Hollowsong stood crouched over the dead Medicine Cat, as if she was examining him.

_That's it, _Umbershade took a deep breath, _This is going to stop once and for all._

Praying to StarClan that this was the right thing to do, the black tom disappeared like an invisible spirit into the shadows around him. He crept ever closer to the killer...his sister, pressing his paws lightly on the snow.

Moonlight revealed Umbershade's pelt from the shadows, and in an instant he leapt forward and bit down onto his sisters tail.

"Ow!" she screeched like a barn owl, turning around with great fury spread on her face.

"I'm sorry" Umbershade meowed quickly, knowing what he had to do. "I wish things could be different, but they can't. Please forgive me."

Then he felt the same feeling as days before creep up on him, and all at once the swirling smoke began to fly out of his black eyes. It twirled and spiraled towards Hollowsong. For once Umbershade saw a sheer look of terror on his sisters face, no one had ever used a power on her before, not like this.

As soon as the smoke began to seep into her own eyes, the black furred tom knew what he had to do.

"StarClan forgive me" the whispers faded into darkness, and in one quick movement, Umbershade sunk his fangs into his sisters throat.

The brown Zodiac felt no pain as blood cascaded from her throat, she was still frozen from his power. As more and more blood began to pour like a crimson waterfall, Umbershade fell to the ground with sorrow.

"You cursed us!" he yelled into the dark sky, "This is all you're fault, this blood is on you're paws!".

What kind of cruel ancestors would have sent eight cats with powers to the clans, only to kill four of them before they lived their life. Umbershade didn't know, but he prayed that there was some reason for all of this happening.

Because if not, Umbershade just killed the other ShadowClan Zodiac, his sister,_ for no reason at all._

_

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_**A/N: See I'm not that Cold-Hearted, although that might change when I begin writing the sequel.... So did you like how this chapter turned out? Only one more chappy left, and then the epilogue! Oh and probably the synopsis of the next story, which I won't tell you until I post it. Please review! Can I reach 500? *Wow das alot***


	32. Twenty Eight: Fivesouls

**A/N: Wow the final Chapter of Zodiac, yay I'm almost done! Well I'm kind of sad now, I just found out Brittany Murphy died this morning, supposedly of Cardiac Arrest. She was only 32.... :( Well anyway on a lighter note I'm almost done with the outline for the sequel, you'll have to wait to know the title until I post the synopsis ha! :P I just wanted to thank everyone that reviewed this story and without you I wouldn't have finished it so fast! Let's just hope I can stream through the sequel!**

**Please review and I'll try to post the Epilogue tomorrow, but because im OCD It will probably be on Tuesday because that ends on an even number, and I want it to show Zodiac was completed on an even numbered date. Wow....I'm messed up. REVIEW!**

**~Leo~

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**CHAPTER XXVIII**

Dark gray smoke spiraled through the oak trees. At the base of the large brown trunks, the grass and ferns that lay beneath the snow, were scorched to a crisp.

Cats stood huddled outside the wall of ThunderClan camp, yowls of distress sounding from queens and kits. Otterpool walked through the groups of cats towards the camp, where fire still burnt in patches.

Cats cast dirty looks in her direction, although none would act on it once they saw her sapphire eyes, they all knew she was a Zodiac.

_Now Zodiacs will be associated with destruction, _she felt a hollow feeling in the pit of her stomach as she passed through the burning Thorn-Tunnel. The sun began to rise behind dark gray clouds, the first full moon of Leaf-Bare had finally ended.

And as she walked into the camp, Otterpool already knew what had become of her clan mate.

"Rushfall's dead" she spoke in shock, seeing the small gray and white Medicine Cat covered in ash and soot. "So are Ferretleap, Hollowsong and Bluecloud" she felt a deep sense of sadness rise in her core, two Medicine Cats were lost today.

Distracted as a large ball of fire struck where a bunch of queens were staying, Otterpool looked up onto the rocky ridge. Charredsoul stood tall, anger filling his crimson eyes.

_He's trying to kill all the Zodiacs, _Otterpool realized, he must not have known the four who were destined to die, have already died. Otterpool glared as he set and endless amount of fire into the sky, if he didn't stop soon then the whole lake home would be burnt to a pulp.

"This has to end once and for all" she growled, this battle didn't happen just so some angry Zodiac could destroy the whole forest.

_But for what reason? _Otterpool asked herself, _Why in the world would StarClan send cats that could and did cause this much destruction?_

She had stayed clear of the battle, trying to put out as much fire as she could with water. But a few drops barely even touched the number of infernos across the forest, Charredsoul had gone completely mad.

Streaming through the dark forest, Otterpool barely felt the thorns jabbed into her pads, the cold of the snow numbed them. Her eyes were curved, focused on a destination.

Otterpool was going to end this chaos, she just had to!

Snow frosted the sand on the bank of the lake, it was almost as hard as flint, and frozen cold to the touch.

"StarClan give me the power to stop this" she took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

Images of Rushfall bounced around her mind, he would be in the stars now. Looking into the sky which began to dappled with yellows and reds, Otterpool could faintly see four stars shining faintly in the sky.

They were formed in the shape of a diamond, representing Otterpool, Sprucefrost, Umbershade and Charredsoul. The four who survived.

"I have to do this to make sure all the others survive" she reminded herself, certainly more cats would die if Charredsoul didn't stop this madness.

With a determined feeling, Otterpool began to pad to the frozen edges of the lake. She walked confidently on its slippery white surface, focused on the cold abyss of water only a fox-length ahead.

"Here goes nothing" the RiverClan Zodiac made sure to dive in with force, and broke through a thin line of ice.

She swam with tremendous speed down to the bottom, the images of Rushfall's body driving her to complete this task. In this dark watery mass, Otterpool felt one with her surroundings, this was her home.

Finally reaching the bottom of the lake, Otterpool felt her numb pads touch the sandy surface. Up above she could see the faint streaming fire balls flying through the air, but they would stop soon enough.

_You can do this, _Otterpool closed her eyes as she lay still in the darkness of the lake. She could feel the power rising from her core, as water began to swirl around her. It crashed onto the ice above, as Otterpool waited just one more moment to build her power.

"Now!" she growled underwater, kicking off from the sand as a tremendous wave shot her to the top.

Otterpool burst through the hard ice as easy as a Starling hatching from its shell, tiny frozen shards scattering the lake shore. Behind her a massive tidal wave flew into the sky, spreading across the whole entire area where fire was burning.

She made sure to have it high enough so it wouldn't cause any damage, and then all at once let it fall to the ground.

Cold rain drops scattered across the forest like a typhoon, scorching out and destroying any fire that once burned intensely. Seeing the water fall onto the forest, Otterpool knew that this war had finally come to the end.

But for what reason had it started in the first place? And now that only four Zodiacs were left standing, Otterpool only had one question to ask to her dead ancestors.

"What do we do now?"

* * *

Glimmering stars twinkled in the dark embrace of night. The faint sound of crickets in the distance, brought Rushfall out of his trance. Memories of the battle flashed through his mind like an ice storm, memories of Hollowsong making him jump of the ridge.

Memories of his body crashing onto the ground, he had died on impact.

"I'm dead" he spoke out loud, the realization hitting him like a bolt of lightning.

"Yes, Yes we know" an angry growl came from a cream-striped tom, "I'm dead too you know."

_Ferretleap? _Rushfall lifted himself to his paws, he was dead too? Starry figures sat in a ring around him, cats of all different shapes, colors and ages.

This was StarClan.

"Hi Rushfall" a cat meowed from behind a fern.

Walking out into the moonlight, his heart sunk, "Bluecloud, you're dead too?".

Oh no, what were the clans going to do without two of their Medicine Cats? Bluecloud had Vixenpaw who was just barely trained, and Rushfall had Weaselpaw.

She had the makings of a great Medicine Cat, but still she had nowhere near enough experience to heal her clan on her own.

"They'll be okay" the blue-gray cat assured him as if reading his mind, "Foxshadow and Tawnywing will help them, I've already spoke with them at the Moon Pool."

Rushfall nodded blankly, still taking in all that had happened in such a short amount of time. What about his mother, and what about Thunderstripe his sister?

They would take his death hard, although Rushfall had never gotten extremely close to his sibling, they were just so different. He was the feisty cat who never wanted to be a Medicine Cat in the first place, and Thunderstripe was a strong noble warrior, who was good at anything she did.

"Why am I dead?" he finally asked angrily, "Why are we dead?".

Ferretleap looked as if he agreed with the question asked, but Bluecloud simply lowered her head to look at the flickering moonlight on the ground.

Rushfall waited a short moment for the answer, until he saw a fluffy figure walk out from behind a bramble bush.

"You died because there were only supposed to be Four Zodiacs left alive, there were always supposed to be only four Zodiacs." The gray tabby tom held an ancient look in his face, as if he had lived in this place for many, many moons.

"Then why have eight of us born in the first place?" Ferretleap asked angrily, "Why give four of us life if you were only going to kill us in twelve-moons?".

Rushfall had to give the WindClan tom credit, it was a good and reasonable question.

The cat who was named Goosefeather walked forward, "Because we didn't know who would survive, we needed to know which four had the most powerful abilities. It's for the future of the clans."

The RiverClan tom caught Bluecloud nodding in agreement, many starry furred cats did the same.

_Why are they all just sitting in a ring? _Rushfall glared at the surrounding cats, who all had their gazes fixated on something. That was when Rushfall noticed a large pool trickling from a cascading stream in the center of the gathering cats.

"What's that?" he leaned forward to look, gazing at Bluecloud to see what it was.

She didn't answer, she simply flicked her tail for him to look at it. Curiously, Rushfall lifted himself off the cold ground, and padded in between cats to look into the dark moonlight reflecting pool. In it lay an image so mystifying, it almost took Rushfall's breath away.

"Wow what is it?" he gasped, mesmerized by five burning stars that rippled in the watery image.

Goosfeather padded upto the much younger cat, and lifted his gaze to look into the pool.

"It represents the true Zodiacs" he meowed quietly, "Those five stars are the only hope to ensure the clans survival in the future. Without these cats, StarClan and the Clans will be exterminated."

He nodded for a moment, then furrowed his brow in confusion.

"Wait just a second!" Rushfall glared at Goosefeather, "There are only four Zodiacs left alive? Why are there five stars in the pool?".

The ancient Medicine Cat didn't answer, his eyes simply reflected the five burning stars in the pool. The mystery of the five stars would stay a secret, until a message was sent to a far away place.

And the moment that happened, a whole linked group of events would be set into stone. Those events would decide the very future of the clans existence, _and maybe....even the worlds. _

_

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_**A/N: Ahh so I set it up for the sequel, and let me just say that Bluecloud will have a POV from StarClan! Actually we'll have eight POV's, four are the surviving Zodiacs, 1 is Bluecloud and the other three are completely new characters. I hope you all like the ending, and please tell me what you thought! Thanks!**

**~Leo~**


	33. Epilogue: Skybirth

**A/N: Ah the end of a fic, it always feels so good to mark it complete! Well here's the Epilogue, its in the POV of view from another clan, but I wonder which one? Hmm well I'm not going to say much, I just wanted to thank all of you for reading and Reviewing my stories, it means a lot! Oh and I updated with the synopsis for "Epoch", yup thats the name of the sequel! :P**

**~Leo~**

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****EPILOGUE**

Snow fell off a rocky cliff as a shiny black she-cat ran along the curved pathway. Her quick movements were completely precise, as if the ability to walk through this terrain has been passed down from generation through generation.

The cliffs lay like a spiral, caverns scattered across its rocky surface were filled with cats of all sizes. Elders lay in the darkness, sharing tongues and sleeping in their warm caverns.

Apprentices fidgeted in their sleep, looking eagerly outside as if wishing they could hunt or train all day and night. A few fox-lengths higher, the biggest of all the caverns lay.

The sweet scent of milk and borage drifted all through the air, this was the nursery. Where Queens and Kits lay tucked away. Safe from the dangers of the outside world.

Inidogcloud screeched to a halt at a large jagged edge, and without even a second thought, leapt directly upwards. The Medicine Cat made the leap with precise accuracy, her paws not even slipping on the icy stone.

"Rockstar!" she hissed into the darkness, as a large figure moved in the back of the large den.

Indigocloud waited until the black furred leader stepped into the moonlight, and then slowly explained what had just occurred.

"I went to the Whispering Cave and spoke with Echosong" she told him softly, "She told me there would be two kits born on this very night underneath the first full-moon of Leaf-Bare, with powers even greater than StarClan."

Rockstar lifted his gaze, "Powers? What do you mean, like you have the power to speak with StarClan?".

The Medicine Cat shook her head, "No, more like abilities."

She knew that would give him the right idea, like SkyClan had the ability to leap high and jump far. As Inidogcloud continued explaining to her leader what had happened, a scampering of paws distracted them both.

"Cranepaw?" the she-cat asked through the darkness, as a small gray she-cat scrabbled up the cliffs edge.

The Medicine Cat apprentice was panting heavily, her fluffy gray fur matted with snow.

"Honeymist and Stonepetal went into labor" she meowed breathlessly, as a gasp came from her mentor.

"But Honeymist is only a moon and a half along!" Rockstar's meow held worry for his daughters kits.

Instantly Indigocloud ran along a pathway in the direction of the Queens den, not even bothering to hold caution amongst the icy cliffs. As she came to a large enclosed cavern, Indigocloud peaked inside carefully as tiny mewls filled the nursery.

"You didn't tell me they already gave birth!" she hissed at Cranpaw, while walking forward to examine both queens.

Honeymist lay in the corner, her dark golden tail wrapped around her two small bodies. Stonepetal lay next to her, gently lapping at two small kits as well.

"Are they healthy?" a meow came from Firefly, who was peaking in from the entrance to look at his mate Honeymist and her newly born litter.

"They appear to...." Indigocloud cut off as she bent down to examine the kits, something was wrong. The she-cat of the litter, a dark brown tabby was perfectly fine as she suckled on her mother. But the tom, he was....different.

"I know something's off about Lynxkit" Honeymist confessed, "But he's healthy and thats what matters" the queen bent her head to lap at the tiny golden spotted tom.

Lynxkit was sure enough spotted, his pitch black spots swirled like a whirlpool, never ceasing their motion. Suddenly memories of what Echosong told her in the Whispering Cave drifted back to Indigocloud,

_"On the first full-moon of Leaf-Bare, two cats with extraordinary powers shall be born. It is their destiny to travel to the other four clans, and be reunited with the remaining four Zodiacs."_

"Zodiac" Indigocloud repeated the word as she gazed at Lynxkit, he was one of the cats with a power!

"Indigocloud look!" Cranepaw squeaked as she gazed at an infuriated Stonepetal.

One of the queens kits had already scrambled out of his nest, and had left a trail of claw marks in the stone floor. Not only had these scratched the floor, but they indented it as well, the kit had carved through stone.

And thats when Indigocloud got a look at Slatekit, and became even more shocked then when she saw Lynxkit.

"His claws are made of stone!" she gasped, as the kits father Clawedpelt, took him by the scruff and returned him to his mother.

_So these are SkyClan's Zodiacs, _Indigocloud gazed as the queens settled down with their newly born kits. These cats were destined to hold great power, and soon enough they'd have to make a journey to be reunited with the four clans of the lake.

_There were more than just Four Zodiacs in this world, far more. _


	34. Synopsis

**A/N: Here's a really long synopsis for the sequel which I'm writing the outline for as we speak, "Epoch!". If some of you don't know what an Epoch means, then I suggest you look it up on Google. :)**

**~Leo~**

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****EPOCH SYNOPSIS**

_ Something is brewing in the land of the four clans. _The sun has become more intense than anyone can remember, and the waves of the lake and ocean are crashing at dramatic rates. Even other species of animals know that the world is changing. Something is wrong with the land.

Lynxpaw and Slatepaw, the two Zodiacs of SkyClan are learning quickly that they are different from the rest of their clan. But when a stranger from far away visits them, speaking of great destruction striking the world unless they make a great journey, they will have to make a life changing decision whether or not to go.

Sprucefrost the surviving WindClan Zodiac, has sworn not to use her power anymore. The Zodiacs caused so much destruction to the clans, their powers are curses not gifts. But the WindClan cats only daughter Meadowkit has a completely different View of the world then her mother. She has a power that can not only help revive the clans, but the world as well.

After losing their home to a group of Foxes, Otterpool and RiverClan journey into ShadowClan Camp. Both clans soon merge into one large, strong clan. TigerClan. But when an omen is sent to Otterpool, she'll learn that its not each other they need to be worried about, its everything else. Night after night Umbershade is haunted by visions of his sister. Hollowsong is trying to get him to help her in the Dark Forest by allowing these evil cats to travel into the real world. The question is, what side is Umbershade on?

As deputy of ThunderClan, Charredsoul has made a new name for his clan. They are no longer the weakest link of the forest, but a strong alliance that is a force to be reckoned with. He questions everything that has happened in the past, and blames himself for Bluecloud's death. But what will happen when Charredsoul realizes that his own two kits, just might be a threat to his clan? Bluecloud is now the Guardian of the Zodiacs. And the ancient leader Firestar has bestowed on her the responsibility of traveling to the Tribe of Endless Hunting. But the path there will be treacherous, and filled with danger from the evils that have broken out of the Dark Forest.

In these dark confusing times, all of the Zodiacs of the clans will have to band together if they are to survive this ordeal. Because when the Moon and the Sun align, the land will be stricken with great disaster. Their only hope is these cats sent from the stars....

**ETA: January 1st**


End file.
